


Haunted

by ihearttvsnark, Sxymami0909



Series: To Know Someone [2]
Category: Smallville
Genre: Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Badass Green Arrow, Chloe being sassy, Chloe figuring shit out, Chloe is Watchtower, Chloe is done taking your shit, Enemies, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Gen, Hal Jordan can be a dick, Minor Character Death, Mystery Stories, Oliver Queen Being an Asshole, One True Pairing, Past Drug Use, Past Violence, Serial Killers, Slow decent into guilt ridden holes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-25
Updated: 2015-08-20
Packaged: 2018-03-15 05:08:26
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 18
Words: 158,976
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3434717
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ihearttvsnark/pseuds/ihearttvsnark, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sxymami0909/pseuds/Sxymami0909
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>One month after the final events of Serendipity, Chloe and Oliver are enjoying their new life in Star City when a seemingly random murder rattles Oliver to the core. As he starts to spiral out of control, Chloe sees a different side of the man she fell in love with and she doesn't know if there's anything she can do to save him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

The sun beat down on Chloe as she sat outside the small restaurant not far from the local pier, grin on her face. She leaned back in her seat slightly, sunglasses covering her eyes the light ocean breeze blowing the summery dress she wore, awry as she waited for Tess. It had been just about a month since she moved to Star City and Chloe wasn’t sure she’d ever get used to the amazing weather. Right now Lois and Clark were getting ready for snow in Metropolis, while she was walking around in spaghetti straps and sandals.

Something she teased her cousin about in almost every email or phone call. Chloe glanced up at a noise near the table and spotted the waiter. She ordered a drink for herself and Tess and told him she was waiting on someone and they would order food once she got there. The young man nodded and Chloe watched as he made his way towards the bar to get the drinks. She let out a small content sigh as her thoughts drifted back to the past month.

So far, she and Oliver were settling in together quite nicely. The penthouse was huge, bigger than that even. The first week she was there, Chloe had used her laptop to Skype with Lois so she could give her cousin a tour of the entire floor. Lois’s mouth had practically dropped open when she saw the sheer size of the closet, which Chloe had also been pleasantly surprised by. She didn’t have much in the way of clothes, shoes or things in general because of the fire, but she certainly planned to buy herself some now that she had a place to put them all.

Chloe had never really been big on material things, but she’d been saving the money she made while working for Oliver in Metropolis for an apartment and now that she no longer needed an apartment, well it only seemed right to use that money to replace some of the things she’d lost. And so, for the last three weeks with the help of Tess, Chloe had slowly but surely been accumulating more things.

She glanced down at the bags near her legs and bit her lower lip. It wasn’t even two in the afternoon yet and she had already gone shopping today, but there wasn’t really much else for her to do. It was hard for her to stay in the apartment all day long. After a while it got boring especially with Oliver gone all day at work. For the past couple of weeks she’d been alternating her time between playing Watchtower on the most amazing computer set up she’d ever seen, and unpacking her things adding her stuff to his place.

Things were slow crime wise though and aside from a few missions that she had walked the other team members through, and the nightly patrols, it was quiet which, unfortunately left Chloe with a lot of time on her hands. She had spent this past week working with Victor to update the database and transfer all of her information into the system so they had it in one place. For the past couple of days, Chloe had been pondering the thought of possibly putting feelers out to see if any of the local papers or magazines were hiring free lance writers. She figured it probably wasn’t a good thing to have too much time on her hands or she’d wind up getting into trouble, which would ruin the semi-normal life she’d been attempting to build with Oliver this past month.

With Lex in prison on a twenty year sentence, the team slowly dismantling the 33.1 labs across the globe, Tess and Hal’s engagement and her move to Star City, life was finally starting to feel normal. Aside from her unconventional job and Oliver’s nighttime activities, things really were mundane. Oliver had taken her to Coast City for her first time at the beach like he said he would, they went out with Hal and Tess a few times for dinner, she and Oliver had even gone out to see a movie the other night.

It was strange, but not at all in an unpleasant way, just different...new and she actually liked it. No alien emergencies or world ending apocalypses looming over the horizon, just your normal everyday problems. Chloe was happy for the first time in a long time and that was something she very much owed to Oliver. She was knocked out of her thoughts by the sound of a chair being pulled out and she blinked, lifting her sunglasses up and resting them in her hair as she gave Tess a bright smile. “Hey, you made it.”

“Sorry, I’m late,” Tess apologized as she settled into the chair across from Chloe and dropped her purse on the table beside her plate. “Hal’s mother called me just as I was getting ready to leave the office to invite us to dinner tomorrow night. She wants to talk about the wedding.” She couldn’t help the wide smile that spread across her face at the word. It had been almost a month since Hal had proposed and Tess still felt like she was floating on air each time she saw the ring on her finger.

Oliver and Chloe had been the first people they’d shared the news with and while Tess had correctly assumed Oliver knew before she did, it had been news to Chloe and she had been very happy for both of them. Things were still rocky between Chloe and Hal but Tess thought he was at least attempting to make an effort and that was something. The four of them had gone out to dinner a few nights ago and they’d had a lot of fun. If nothing else, Tess knew Hal could see how happy Chloe made Oliver and he was willing to try to be nice to her.  

Tess realized she had cut herself off in the middle of her story and Chloe was looking at her expectantly as she waited for her to finish. “Anyway, his mom has been asking us for details since we told her we were engaged but our schedules keep getting crossed. Hal and I canceled last time we were supposed to have dinner due to an emergency Lantern meeting on that planet I can never remember the name of.” She shrugged and picked up her menu. “Obviously we couldn’t tell her that so Hal just said I had something was going on at work. It’s a good thing his mom likes Oliver so much because we blame him for a lot of things,” she joked.

Chloe chuckled. “I’m sure he appreciates that,” She teased as she watched Tess look over the menu. When they had first told her and Oliver that they were engaged Chloe was surprised, but extremely happy for the other woman. She knew how much Tess and Hal loved each other and she thought it was sweet that they were getting married. Chloe had spent the last month getting to know the red head better and it turned out they actually had a lot in common.

And it seemed like Tess enjoyed the female company, which Chloe was glad about, because without Lois, she was flying blind and since she didn’t actually have a job to go to, it’s not like she met a lot of people. She was really glad Tess liked her and she was hoping to work on the Hal thing and hopefully he’d come around. “Do you and Hal’s Mom get along?” She asked curiously as the waiter made his way over to them and put down two drinks Chloe thanked him and he told them he’d be right back to take their order.

“Yes, Hal’s entire family is great,” Tess said. She really liked spending time with them on family holidays or just having dinner at his mom’s house once in awhile. It was nice to feel like she was part of a family considering her own had been terrible and that was before she’d found out about her biological family.  

Tess decided what she wanted and set her menu down on the edge of the table and turned her attention back to Chloe. “When I first met his mom, Hal and I were just friends so there wasn’t that huge pressure for us to get along and I think that made it easier. She was happy for us when we started dating and she was thrilled about the engagement. She told Hal it was about time.” Tess laughed at the memory of the look on Hal’s face when she’d said that.

Chloe smiled at the happiness on Tess’s face. “That’s nice. It must be nice to have family around, or you know soon to be family,” She said lightly as she moved her menu over. She’d already decided what she wanted before Tess had shown up. She shifted in her seat crossing her legs as she smiled lightly. “So you never told us, have you and Hal set a definite date yet?” She asked as the waiter made his way back over to the table.

They paused in their conversation as they ordered their food. He wrote everything down, gave them a small smile and made his way towards the kitchen. When he was gone Chloe turned back towards Tess with a small grin. “Well?”

“We haven’t picked the actual date but we’ve narrowed down to next July,” Tess said. Since they were nearing the end of fall already, they had decided a winter wedding would be too soon and a spring wedding would be too cliché so Hal had suggested July since August was always one of Queen Industries’ busiest months and he knew Tess wouldn’t want to take time off from work. She loved him even more for being so considerate of her schedule. “He figured he should check with his mom before we picked an exact date.”

She took a sip of her drink and smiled at Chloe as she set it back down. “I have to ask you something but before I do I want you to know that I’m not going to be one of those crazy brides who think everything else in the world needs to stop so she can focus on her wedding. Honestly all I care about is the end result where I get to be Hal’s wife. Everything else is just details,” Tess said.

She never understood why people made such a big deal about dresses and cake designs and centerpieces that had to match the bouquet. All of that stuff seemed like a frivolous waste of time to her and she had no interest in drooling over bridal magazines or hosting tea parties to discuss color schemes. She had an actual job that kept her extremely busy.

Chloe arched an eyebrow a hint of confusion on her face as she glanced at Tess. “Okay?” She said not entirely sure what the red head would want to ask her. Chloe had never been through a wedding and she didn’t actually plan on ever having one so if it was advice Tess wanted she’d do her best to help, but she wasn’t sure how helpful she’d actually be.

She leaned forward lifting her drink from the table and taking a sip before motioned Tess to go ahead and ask whatever it is she wanted to ask as Chloe’s brows furrowed and she focused her attention solely on the woman in front of her.

Tess couldn’t help but laugh at the confusion on Chloe’s face. She knew the other woman was always on top of everything so it was nice to be able to catch her by surprise. “Chloe, I know we haven’t known each other very long, but I really like you and I’m happy you decided to move here with Oliver and that we’ve had a chance to spend more time together.” She paused, suddenly nervous about the question she wanted to ask. Tess didn’t really have any friends aside from Hal and Oliver because she’d stopped allowing herself to get close to people after she’d been forced to watch Megan die right in front of her. Chloe was the first real friend she’d made in years.

But there was no reason to be nervous. Tess realized she was doing exactly what she said she wouldn’t do and making a big deal out of nothing. She could see that Chloe looked more confused than ever and decided to stop beating around the bush and just ask her. “Chloe, I’d really like you to be my maid-of-honor. Would you do that for me?” she asked.

Chloe’s eyes widened slightly and she opened and closed her mouth as surprise colored her features. Tess wanted her to be her maid of honor? Chloe shook the shock off her face as her heart warmed and she reached across the table placing her hand over Tess’s, a grin pulling at her lips. “Are you kidding?” She asked lightly, “Of course I will!” She told her brightly. Chloe had been worried that because Hal wasn’t crazy about her it might affect the dynamic between her and Tess, but she was really glad it hadn’t.

Chloe’s face softened as she tilted her head to the side. “I’d be honored to be your maid of honor,” She said softly. “It really means a lot that you asked me.” Chloe knew it was silly, but she was really enjoying getting to know Tess and she was happy the other woman seemed to enjoy her company as well. Chloe didn’t have many friends so she was really glad she and Tess seemed to be becoming good ones.

“Thank goodness you said yes without me having to beg,” Tess teased. She smiled at Chloe, pleased to see that the other woman actually seemed excited. “Now you see why I wanted to point out that I won’t be making your life miserable with inane things until July. I know that a lot has to go into planning a wedding but between the two of us and Hal’s mother it should be a piece of cake.”

Tess lifted her glass to her lips again and took a long sip. She still had to tell Hal about her decision but even with his reservations about Chloe, Tess didn’t think he would mind. She was Oliver’s girlfriend and a big part of their lives now.  

“Well now that we’ve settled that, what’s going on with you?” Tess asked. Her eyes fell to the bags that Chloe had set at her feet. “Busy morning of shopping?” she teased. She knew Chloe hadn’t expected to settle into Star City as easily as she had but Tess was glad to see that Chloe was already making herself at home. She seemed really happy.

Chloe gave her a sheepish look. “In my defense I get bored _really_ easily and I needed to get out of the apartment for a while. For a place so big you would think it would be less boring,” She joked as she lifted her glass and took a quick sip of her ice tea before placing the glass back on the table. She bit her lower lip wondering if maybe she should tell Tess what she was thinking even though she hadn’t spoken to Oliver about it yet. They were friends, friends talked about things, she told herself making the decision to tell her

Chloe leaned back in her seat as she caught Tess’s eyes. “I’ve been thinking lately that maybe I might send out my resume out see if any newspapers or magazine are looking for a freelance writer. Things have been slow…and Oliver’s gone all day, and if I don’t have something to occupy my time it’s only a matter of time until I find trouble,” She joked lightly. Chloe was incredibly happy with her decision to move to Star City, but it was important to her that regardless of living with Oliver she at least still paid her own way, not that money was an issue at the moment, she had five months worth of paychecks stored up and Oliver had been generous with her salary. Even after her recent frequent shopping trips she still had quite a bit left. It was more about having something to do and feeling useful than anything.

Tess nodded. “I can understand that.” She knew Chloe was doing work for the team, but she also knew that things had been quiet lately. Hal had been complaining about patrols being boring and Tess had reminded him about the hell they’d gone through the past few months and he’d agreed that boring wasn’t so bad after all. But she could see why Chloe would need something else to occupy her time since she wasn’t working at Queen Industries anymore.

“I know the editor of the Register if you need a reference. I am a publisher now,” Tess said. She rolled her eyes. Most days she found it ridiculous that she owned one of the largest newspapers in the country. She had happily handed over the day-to-day reins to Perry White and she hadn’t regretted that decision once. “But I would steer clear of the Gazette if I were you. The editor hates Oliver and the paper is constantly printing articles about him and the company that most tabloids wouldn’t touch.”

Chloe scrunched her nose. “Thanks for the tip and that’s horrible,” She said before tilting her head to the side and giving the other woman a thoughtful look. “I haven’t actually seen anything too bad printed about Ollie lately, so that’s good right?” She asked before grinning. “And have I mentioned that my cousin thinks you’re an angel for hiring Perry?” She said amusement on her face.

“She practically thanks you on a daily basis. She’s so happy that the Planet is back to being a real newspaper and she’s up for a promotion so she’s excited.” Chloe opened her mouth to say something when the waiter came over with their food. He asked if they needed anything else and when Chloe told him they were fine for now he nodded and left to check on his other tables. She glanced back at Tess and smiled. “How are things at work?”

“Oliver has kept a low profile since he’s been back in the city so the papers haven’t really had a chance to print anything. But they will,” Tess told her matter-of-factly. She knew Chloe had been exposed to the media circus that had camped out on their doorstep in Metropolis, but those reporters had been interested in the story on Tess and her Luthor connections. It was going to be an entirely different ballgame when they started focusing on Chloe’s relationship with Oliver. Tess knew Chloe was strong and she’d survive the firestorm but that didn’t mean it wasn’t going to be hard for her. 

“Work is good,” she said. “It’s nice for me to have my assistant outside my office again instead of having to communicate over the phone and email all the time. The merger has boosted stock prices for Queen Industries and Luthor Corp. and everything is status quo at the moment. I can’t complain and I won’t,” Tess stated as she added dressing to her salad. A normal, mundane existence was great as far as she was concerned. “How are things going with you and Oliver?”

Chloe smiled. “Things are going as good as ever. He’s not sick of me yet so that’s a plus,” She joked as she pulled a piece of grilled chicken from her salad into her mouth. “I mean we lived together in metropolis for a few months, but I don’t know somehow it seems slightly different here,” She said while shrugging before pulling another forkful of salad and chicken into her mouth. She chewed and swallowed before smiling slightly. “I’m happy and I like to think he’s happy too.” She said while taking another sip of her drink. She wasn’t sure what it was, but ever since she moved out to California it was almost like she’d been waiting for the other shoe to drop. Chloe was more than happy and in her experience things like that didn’t last. But aside from that she was amazing.

She shook the anxiety off and looked back up at Tess, her face flushing with happiness as she spoke. “Oliver is really amazing,” She said lightly. “I’m really glad I decided to come out here.”

“He’s happy,” Tess said knowingly. She’d never seen Oliver as happy as he’d been since he’d met Chloe. Even before they’d officially gotten together and things had been crazy with Lex and everything else that was going on, Tess had seen a change in Oliver. He was different with Chloe and it was definitely a good thing. “He’d never tell you this because he’s too noble and self-sacrificing, but Oliver would have been miserable if you’d decided to stay in Metropolis. I’m really happy for you guys,” she said.

Chloe’s face softened. “Thanks for saying that,” She told her lightly before leaning forward and sending half a smile Tess’s way. “Truth be told...I would have been just as miserable if I stayed in Metropolis,” She said before laughing lightly. “It was a good decision, there’s nothing that could make me regret it for a second.”

Tess returned her smile. “I’m glad,” she said. “Now we should probably eat because I have a meeting in an hour with your boyfriend and some potential investors. But we need to make this lunch a regular thing. I think we could both use a little girl time.” Tess laughed and shook her head. “See? This wedding is already messing with my brain. I can’t believe I just uttered the words ‘girl time’ in a sentence.” She was just going to chalk it up to the excitement of getting back to her normal life and maybe the whole getting married thing too. She wasn’t used to being this happy but Tess was determined to enjoy herself. She had earned it.

______

 

Standing on the roof of Queen Industries under a moonless sky, Oliver surveyed the quiet city around him. He’d recently added a new feature to his glasses that extended the zoom lenses so he could see for nearly two miles in each direction with a simple push of a tiny button. It made it easier for him to patrol because he could choose a central location and watch a lot of ground at once while he listened to the police scanner or waited for Chloe to alert him to signs of trouble in the area. Things had been fairly quiet since he’d gotten back and Oliver knew that was a good thing. He’d left the city unprotected for months while he’d been in Metropolis but the police had managed to handle everything in Green Arrow’s absence.

He knew from experience that the peace wouldn’t last for long. Sooner or later a new gang would spring up or a new drug dealer would try to run the territory. Now that he was back, Oliver made a point to patrol every night, even if it was only for a few hours. He wanted the criminal element to know the city was under his watch once again. It seemed to be working. He’d left the penthouse two hours ago and so far all he’d come across was one mugging and a liquor store robbery. The police scanner was quiet and Chloe was working with AC who was in Alaska doing something with whales. Oliver knew she’d still have an eye on his progress until he got home.

Oliver grinned at that. He loved knowing that Chloe would be waiting for him when he got home. Things had been going better than he’d hoped for since she’d moved into his penthouse. Chloe seemed happy and relaxed and while he knew that she missed Lois, she seemed to be adjusting well to California. He knew the weather was a big selling point, but it was more than that. She was happy being with him and Oliver couldn’t help wondering how he had gotten so lucky to have such an amazing woman in his life.

He forced himself out of his thoughts to scan the streets once again. The police scanner remained silent and Oliver didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. The weather forecast had called for rain and he could feel it in the air. Maybe that was what was keeping the criminals off the streets. Oliver decided to give it another half hour and then he would head back to the penthouse so he could spend some time with Chloe.

A small beep in his ear caught his attention and Oliver pressed the button to activate the com device hidden beneath his hood. “Are you as bored as I am tonight?” he asked.

Hal smirked at his friend’s voice as he hovered over his favorite bar in Coast City. It had been a long day at Ferris and he was currently fighting with the newest person Carol’s Father had hired to manage the test pilots. The guy was a douche and Hal had been looking forward to going on patrol tonight and burning off some of the pent up tension he’d had to hold in while at work, but so far he hadn’t had much luck with that.

He shook his head realizing his friend was waiting for an answer. “Absolutely. I’ve already done two sweeps of the entire town and all I stopped were two teenagers attempting to steal a car, it was seriously sad.” He told his friend as he flew off towards the left. Hal knew he’d been gone for a little over a hour, but he was antsy to get home and spend some time with his fiancé. The word brought a grin to his face. He still couldn’t believe she had said yes. This past month had pretty much been the best month of his life.

“I guess we should just be grateful that the quiet is better than the alternative,” Oliver said. He did one more sweep of the area as he walked from one end of the roof to the other. He could see the waves crashing against the shore in the distance and he figured the rain would be starting soon. Maybe he wouldn’t bother waiting another hour to go home. 

“So aside from your boredom, what’s new?” Oliver asked. He hadn’t talked to Hal for a few days since they’d taken Chloe and Tess out to dinner. It still seemed strange not to run into each other once or twice a day like they had when they’d been living in the same building when they’d been in Metropolis. Of course things had been tense between the two of them at the time and Oliver was glad that was over. Everything had gone back to normal after their trip to Coast City to pick up Tess’s ring.

Hal flew over the city slowly, taking in the light from the houses below, a light smile crossing his features as he watched people going about their business, not even the slightest bit concerned that he was flying overhead. “Not much. We’re going over to my Mom’s tomorrow for dinner,” He said his smile widening. It made his heart warm watching her and Tess talk about wedding plans and seeing how excited his Mother was for them. “She’s making lasagna...She wants to talk to us about wedding stuff, she’s excited you know,” He told his friend lightly.

“She keeps going around grabbing my cheeks and telling me it’s a miracle, that she always thought me and my  youngest brother were lost causes, but how she’s so happy at least one of us isn’t,” He snorted dropping down a bit glancing at the marina making sure everything looked quiet there as a breeze blew against him.

Oliver laughed. “You’re still a lost cause. You’re just a lost cause who was sneaky enough to convince a nice, unsuspecting woman to marry you,” he replied, smirking at the description of Tess that was about as far off as one could get. Oliver had watched her calmly tell two potential investors where they could go with their lowball, insulting offers and both men had been scared to death by the time she’d finished. “But that’s nice that your mom is excited for the wedding. Have you guys started picking out china patterns and cake flavors yet?” he teased. 

The police scanner on his belt crackled to life and Oliver listened to the report of a car accident. It sounded like there were only minor injuries and a squad car was being dispatched. He heard a low rumble of thunder in the distance and decided it was time to make his way home. “Seriously, isn’t planning a wedding supposed to be a stressful thing?” he asked as he made his way across the roof to the access panel that would lead him into the secret room behind his office.

Hal turned his body and started flying backwards hands behind his head as he zoomed through the air. “I don’t know. Do I look like I know what goes into planning a wedding?” He asked before whirling around in the air and starting to head back towards the apartment he shared with Tess. It was late, he’d done his due diligence out on the street and now it was time to head home. Maybe he’d have a little bit more luck work off that excess energy at home. He smirked to himself before shaking his head.

“Tess seems pretty calm about everything and Mom’s got all these ideas so when we get to the house I’ll let them talk and I’ll go hang out with my brother,” He said matter of factly. Hal wasn’t really sure how the whole wedding thing worked and it wasn’t that he didn’t care, but to him the most important thing was the outcome. He didn’t care about what they wore or where they had it, as long as Tess was his wife when it was all over.

“You let me know how that works out for you,” Oliver said. He closed the panel behind him and quietly made his way into the private elevator that went to the sublevel parking garage where he’d stored his motorcycle. “I don’t really see Tess letting you sit on your ass while she has to do all the work.” He knew that wasn’t what Hal meant, but Oliver couldn’t resist messing with his friend. He needed some form of entertainment for the evening until he could get home to his girlfriend.

Hal rolled his eyes as he dodged a lamppost barely missing it. “That isn’t what I meant and you know it.” He said with an exasperated sigh, “Anyway...How are things going with you and Blondie?” He asked lightly. Hal wasn’t exactly Chloe’s biggest fan, but he’d told his friend he would make an effort to be nice to the woman he loved, especially now that she was living in Star City with him and so Hal had made an effort to do that.

Oliver laughed at Hal’s exasperation. “It’s so easy to mess with your head, man. It’s a good thing bad guys don’t know you as well as I do or Coast City would be screwed.” He laughed again as he pictured his friend glaring at him from the next city over. This was definitely more fun than standing on the roof waiting for it to rain.

“Chloe and I are doing great. I think she likes it here more than she thought she would which works out nicely for me. I have a feeling she’s getting bored sitting at home all day with nothing going on. I told the guys to call her if they have any missions they need help with but things seem to be slow everywhere.”

Hal paused in his flight hovering above his and Tess’s apartment building as he nodded. “Well that’s good right? At least you don’t need to worry about her running off,” Hal said while making a face. He really needed to stop giving Chloe such a hard time. He knew how Oliver felt about her, but he just couldn’t help it. There was just something about her that rubbed him the wrong way. It could be that whole thing where she almost got his girlfriend killed, but either way Hal was working on.

He pursed his lips as he lowered himself to the ground until his feet touched. “Hey, I’d love to stay on the com all night with you and have some girl talk, but I just got home and I’d like to actually spend some time with my fiancé,” He told his friend lightly.

“Way to make a guy feel unloved,” Oliver joked. The elevator doors opened and he crossed the dimly lit garage to his bike. “That’s fine, man. I’m heading home too before the skies open up. I’ll talk to you later.” He pressed the button to turn off his com and climbed onto his bike. The night had been slow but Oliver reminded himself that was a good thing. It meant they were doing their jobs and now he had the chance to spend some quality time with his girlfriend without having to worry about the world falling apart around then. He pulled on his helmet, started the bike and peeled out of the parking garage, anxious to get home to Chloe.

 

______

 

Chloe made her way out of the bathroom the silk robe clinging to her body in certain places where she was still wet. After lunch with Tess she had come home worked with AC on a mission he was putting together to save the whales, or rather a certain kind of whale, she talked to Lois and then spent a couple of hours on the computer while logging Oliver’s progress as he made his nightly patrol. Once he started heading home she had disconnected her com and went to go take a bath.

Oliver’s tub was amazing. It was one of those whirlpool Jacuzzi ones and she was pretty sure she’d sleep in it if she could, that’s how amazing it was. Chloe moved towards the dresser pulling out a pair of panties and a nightgown before walking over to the bed and tossing them on it while grabbing her lotion. She lifted a leg, her robe parting as she started to rub lotion on her skin, hands kneading the muscles there.

Her eyes fell on the clock and she idly wondered how long it would be until Oliver got home. Chloe thought back to her lunch with Tess and a smile pulled at her lips. She still couldn’t believe the other woman had asked her to be her maid of honor. She was truly touched by Tess’s offer and she planned on making sure she did whatever she could to make sure the other woman’s wedding was as perfect as possible. Chloe was so lost in her thoughts that she didn’t even hear Oliver making his way into the apartment.

Oliver had been about two minutes away from his building before the sky had opened up and he’d ended up getting soaked. He’d parked his bike in his private garage and made his way to the freight elevator that he’d had installed after he’d purchased the building. Like the elevator in the clock tower, it required a pass code for anyone to access it. He typed in the number and as the doors shut, he pushed back his hood and took off his glasses as water dripped off him leaving puddles on the floor. Oliver sighed and made a mental note to clean it up in the morning. 

The doors opened a few minutes later and Oliver was in the small hallway that led to his equipment room. He entered the code to open the door, already peeling off his uniform as the door swung open. He hadn’t bothered to leave the light on when he’d left and the room was pitch black but Oliver knew his way around. He set the pieces of his suit on the long table in the center of the room and made his way out of the room wearing only his boxer briefs. He ran a hand through his wet hair as he walked to the room that Chloe used for her Watchtower command center. It was empty and he started toward the living room when he saw the light was on in the master bedroom.  

Oliver opened his mouth to call out to Chloe, but stopped short when he saw her rubbing lotion on her legs. His eyes roamed appreciatively over her ass, enjoying the way the material clung to her skin. As he moved further into the room, he could see the sash was slipping with her movements and he swallowed hard at the sight of her creamy skin. “Well this is definitely a nice sight to come home to.”

Chloe jumped, startled and glanced over her shoulder as her hand flew to her chest. “Jesus Oliver you scared--” Her voice trailed off and she arched an eyebrow at him as her eyes trailed over his body, a grin pulling at her lips as she took in the sight of his body. “Do I want to know why you’re walking around the house mostly naked? Not that I’m complaining…just curious,” She said amusement dancing in her eyes as she dropped her foot to the ground and tightened her loosening robe.

He made a face when she tightened her robe. “I was enjoying that view,” Oliver told her as he crossed the room and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her silk-covered body flush against him. “It started raining as I was making my way back. My clothes were wet so I took them off. You should think about doing the same,” he teased as he dipped his head down and pressed a kiss to her neck. “How was your day?”

Chloe chuckled as she tilted her head to the side while letting her hands fall to his waist. “I bet you made a mess didn’t you,” She teased as she moaned lightly letting her hands move to his chest. One of the things she absolutely loved doing though she’d never admit it was running her hands over his chest. The way his muscles contracted when she ran her nails over his abs lightly, made her all kinds of crazy.

Sometimes she still found it hard to believe that someone as gorgeous as Oliver loved her when he could basically have anyone he wanted. “My day was uneventful,” She moaned as her hand inched towards the waist band of his boxers. She had just slipped her hand past the elastic when she let out a loud noise and moved back from him eyes wide. “You distracted me! It was not an uneventful day,” She said with a smile as she moved out of his arms and gave him a stern look while shifting back to the bed and squirting out a bit more lotion as she spoke. “Tess asked me to be her maid of honor.”

Oliver blinked; his mind taking a few seconds to catch up to what was happening. His skin was still warm from her touch and one second she’d had her hands on him and the next she was far away and talking about Tess. He was tempted to just toss her on the bed and take away her ability to do anything other than moan his name, but Oliver could see that she was excited about what she was telling him and he loved her enough to put his hormones on hold.

“That’s great, Chloe.” He pressed a light kiss to the top of her head and took a seat on the edge of the bed. His eyes roamed over her legs as he watched her putting on lotion and Oliver decided that was probably a bad idea if they were going to have an actual conversation. He lifted his gaze to her face and smiled at her. “I’m glad you and Tess have gotten so close.” He knew it had been hard for Chloe to leave Lois and he also knew that Tess had always been hesitant about making friends after what had happened on the island. It was nice to see that they were getting along so well.

She nodded her smile bright. “Me too, I was sort of surprised that she asked, because you know,” She said giving him a look as she rubbed her hands together slipping them up her sleeves to lotion her arms. “I’m glad she’s comfortable with me enough to ask though.” She said lightly before looking up and meeting Oliver’s eyes. “How was your day?” She asked while taking a step closer to him and resting her hands on his thighs.

Oliver raised an eyebrow and tugged on the sash of her robe, pulling her forward so she was standing in between his legs. “My day was good. That meeting with the investors went sour but Tess gave them a verbal lashing and suddenly they were interested again. Patrol was slow but you know that. I talked to Hal and he said things were slow on his end too.” He looked up, meeting her eyes as he tugged on the sash once again, causing the knot to give way. Oliver slipped his hands past the fabric to grip her hips as he leaned forward and pressed his lips to her heartbeat. “Anything else you want to talk about?” he whispered against her skin.

Chloe’s heartbeat sped up, her eyes darkening slightly as his lips pressed against her skin. She threaded her fingers through his hair, humor mixed with a hint of building lust on her face. “Someone’s impatient…Am I boring you Hero?” She asked amused before sucking in a sharp breath as she watched him, her heartbeat picking up speed.

“I’m not done yet,” She said softly as she moved even closer to him. “I still have body parts to lotion,” She said before grinning at her own words, “Are you planning on helping me with that?” She asked her voice lowering as she gripped his cheeks and lifted his head slightly so she could meet his eyes.

He grinned at the amusement in her eyes. “I’ve never been a patient guy, Sidekick and it’s not my fault I can’t keep my hands off of you.” Oliver turned his head and pressed a kiss to her palm. He could feel the steady beat of her pulse and he slowly ran his tongue over her wrist as his eyes locked with hers once again. “We should probably remedy the lotion situation immediately. 

He pulled her hands away from his face so he could slide the robe down her shoulders. His eyes darkened as he took in the sight of her standing naked before him. “You’re so beautiful, Chloe.” He reached up, cupped the back of her neck and pulled her head down so he could kiss her.

Chloe groaned and deepened the kiss, while gripping his arms. She pulled back a minute later, heart pounding in her chest as she licked her lips. “You’re not too bad to look at yourself,” She whispered while lifting one leg up onto the bed beside his. Chloe leaned forward as she pushed him down until he was lying back on the bed. She shifted forward and pressed a kiss against his chest. She trailed her lips down to his abs before pausing at the waist band of his pants placing a sucking kiss right above it before speaking softly. “Have I mentioned today that I kind of love you?”

“Just kind of?” Oliver teased. His breathing was ragged and his body felt like it was on fire as her lips trailed over his skin. Desperate need clawed in his stomach as her mouth moved lower. “I love you too, Chloe.” He reached out, brushing his hand over her hair as he met her gaze. “In case I haven’t mentioned it in the past few hours, I’m happy you decided to move here with me. I kind of like having you around,” he teased, echoing her phrasing.

Chloe’s face softened a glint of mischief lighting in her eyes. “Mmm I’ll bet you do…especially when you come home and there’s a half naked woman in your room trying to get ready for bed,” She joked humor coloring green eyes as she met his gaze before darting out her tongue and trailing across the skin above his boxers, her hands dancing up his body, lightly scraping at his chest.

Chloe was pretty sure that Oliver had no idea how much he turned her on. It wasn’t exactly like she went around publicizing the fact, but one look from him was enough to get her going. She loved how everyday no matter what she was doing he’d come home and no matter what kind of day he’d had from the second he stepped over the threshold, his focus was on her and nothing else. She’d never had anyone pay as much attention to her as Oliver did and it was addictive.  Chloe couldn’t get enough of him and he apparently felt the same way.

He closed his eyes for a moment, unable to concentrate on anything except the feeling of her tongue trailing over his skin while her nails teased his chest. Oliver opened his eyes and let his hand fall from her hair to cup her cheek, brushing his thumb lightly across her chin. “I hate to break it to you, Sidekick, but you’re completely naked.” A slow smirk crossed his face as he traced her lips with his finger. “But if you want to finish your nightly routine, don’t let me stop you,” he teased. 

Oliver watched her, waiting for a snarky response. One of the things he loved most about Chloe was that she was always surprising him. She managed to catch him off guard like no one else ever had. She challenged him and Oliver appreciated that. Sure there were times he felt like he was banging his head against a brick wall, but he still loved that she was independent and had her own opinion. The fact that he couldn’t keep his hands off of her was a bonus as far as Oliver was concerned. She intoxicated him and he felt like no matter how many times he kissed her or touched her, he always craved more. He knew Chloe had no idea how sexy she was either.

Chloe lifted her head and arched an eyebrow in his direction. “Well before _you_ got here I _was_ half naked,” She said while moving her body up his slowly, her naked chest brushing against his. Chloe nipped at his jaw as her hand slid down between them, settling against the front of his boxer briefs as she rubbed her palm against him. “It seems like every time I’m around someone my clothes seem to mysteriously come undone or disappear all together…” She said her voice breathy as she continued placing kisses along his jaw, while a grin pulled at her lips.

His hips thrust against hers, his body desperate for more contact at the feeling of her palm rubbing over him. Oliver ran his hands down her back, enjoying the feeling of her smooth skin beneath his fingers. “That is a mystery,” he said thoughtfully as he placed soft kisses along her neck. “But I must say that you not wearing any clothes is working out quite nicely for me.” Oliver ran his tongue along her pulse point. He loved teasing her but he wasn’t sure how much more foreplay he could handle. He was dying to be inside of her.

Chloe chuckled lightly, warm breath hitting his skin as she spoke. “Oh yeah, you’re definitely about to have a very good night Hero,” She said while shifting her hand and tugging at his boxers until they were down by his knees. She glanced up at him winking and lowering her lips to his stomach, trailing feather light kisses down his body before twirling her tongue around the head of his shaft as anticipation of the night to come flowed through her.


	2. Chapter 2

“I’m sorry, I promise this is the last one,” Tess assured Hal as she hurriedly typed out an email on her phone. He’d picked her up from Queen Industries nearly thirty minutes ago so they could head to his mother’s house for dinner and Tess had spent the entire car ride answering phone calls and emails. There was a problem with one of the Luthor Corp. subsidiaries and she was going back and forth with one of the vice presidents to try and get everything smoothed over.

She had told them that she could not be disturbed after seven o’clock no matter what was happening and it was ten minutes to seven. She glanced at Hal out of the corner of her eye and she couldn’t read his expression as he watched the road ahead of him as they got closer to his mother’s house. She really hoped he wasn’t mad.

The day had been hectic and Tess had briefly considered asking Hal to cancel but she didn’t want to do that to him or to his mother. She knew the older woman was excited about the wedding and Tess knew Hal wanted to talk to her before they picked an official date. Tess still had to tell him that she had asked Chloe to be her maid-of-honor but she figured now probably wasn’t the best time. She finished the email and made a point of turning off her phone and sliding it into the glove compartment instead of back into her purse.

“See? I’m all yours,” Tess said. She leaned over and pressed a kiss to his cheek, letting her lips linger against his skin.

Hal gave her a sideways glanced before letting some of the tension out of his shoulders. He could see the uncertainty in her eyes and so he reached over and took her hand in his threading their finger’s together before giving her half a smile. It had been a long day and while he knew Tess had a lot going on at the office, he really wanted her full focus to be on dinner tonight. Normally he didn’t care bit since they were eating with his Mother it was important that she wasn’t answering emails and calls every five minutes.

Hal knew his Mom liked Tess, but sometimes she was weird about things like that and he just wanted dinner to go well. She was already slightly annoyed that they had rescheduled so many times, but neither one of them could help it. Things at Ferris had been crazy lately with the new management and he knew things were always hectic at Queen Industries especially since they were getting ready for their annual fundraiser this upcoming weekend.

The sound of a horn honking knocked Hal out of his thoughts and he stepped on the gas moving through the light and turning right at the corner. He glanced at Tess again and nodded towards the phone. “Were you able to get everything taken care of?” He asked lightly.

“I think so; for now at least. It’s one of those problems that we’re going to be dealing with for awhile. But not tonight,” Tess assured him. She knew how important Hal’s family was to him and she wanted him to know that she had no problem putting work aside for him. Hal had been so amazing the past few months when he’d literally put his life on hold for her to move to Metropolis with her while she dealt with her newfound family issues. Tess knew he’d been against her coming forward from the start but he’d still stuck by her and she would forever be grateful to him for that. The least she could do is not work for night so they could talk to his mom about their wedding.

“What about you?” Tess asked. She trailed her hand lightly over his leg, mindful of the fact that he was driving and she’d prefer it if he didn’t kill them both. “How was your day? You didn’t crash any planes or punch any executives did you?” she teased. Hal was a known hothead and he tended to get into trouble but he was also the absolute best at what he did and everyone knew it.

He smirked as he got over into the right lane heading for the next exit to get off the highway. “No crashing of any planes today, though the executives are pushing their luck. This new guy that Carl hired is such a dick. He grounded me today after I ran a test flight too long,” he told her his jaw clenching as his brows furrowed. “He said until I can learn to play by his rules I wouldn’t be getting into another plane any time soon.”

Hal rolled his eyes. Flying was the one thing he enjoyed doing that he was actually really good at. He’d tried to let go of most of the tension before they left the apartment to come to his Mother’s house for dinner because he knew her and he knew if she saw him upset that she wouldn’t stop until she knew what was bothering him. He shook himself out of his thoughts and squeezed Tess’s hand lightly.

“We’ll see how ling that lasts though. I’m going to talk to Carl in the morning. He can’t ground me, I’m the best damn pilot they have because I take risks that no one else will and I show them that people are way better pilots then their stupid computer technology ever will be. Idiots,” He grumbled before breaking at the red light.

Tess leaned over and kissed the sensitive spot beneath his ear as she let her fingertips slide into his hair. “I know that and Carl knows that too. I’m sure you will still be their number one pilot long after this manager has been handed his walking papers. Don’t let him ruin your night,” she said as she placed feather light kisses along his jaw before sliding back into her seat. She continued lightly massaging his scalp with her fingers to calm him down. She knew he just needed to vent and get it out and then he’d be back to being excited about the wedding.

Hal relaxed into the seat and lifted the hand he was holding bringing it to his lips and pressing a kiss there. He gave her a small smile. “Thanks Red,” He said softly. There used to be a time where he would drink his problems away or get angry and throw random fits. But ever since Tess came into his life he had started handling things differently. “Enough about work though, I’m sorry for bringing it up.” He told her as he made another left hand turn onto the road that would lead them to his Mother’s house.

“Have you been thinking about some dates that might work for the wedding?” He asked while glancing at her briefly. “You know my Mom’s going to want all the details tonight. Also how many bridesmaids and groomsmen we’re going to have. And obviously I know Oliver is going to be my best man, have you picked a maid of honor? Maybe someone from the office?”

“Someone from the office?” Tess repeated. She arched an eyebrow at her fiancé. “Most of the women in the office are scared of me or they hate me because I’m friends with Oliver.” She shrugged, not the slightest bit bothered by the fact that she had so few friends. Aside from Hal and Oliver, Tess had never really had much use for people. She had too many secrets to let just anyone get close to her. Of course now she had someone who was in a similar situation. She’d wanted to wait to tell Hal about Chloe, but he’d asked and she wasn’t going to avoid answering his question.

“But I do have a maid-of-honor,” Tess said. She watched Hal, not sure how he was going to react to what she was about to say. “I asked Chloe to be my maid-of-honor when we went to lunch yesterday and she said yes. I’m sure Oliver will have no problems walking down the aisle with her,” she added, trying to keep her tone light. She really hoped Hal wasn’t going to fight with her about this especially since she had just pointed out that she had no friends aside from their little group. She wanted him to get over his Chloe issues and give her a fair chance.

Hal pursed his lips at Tess’s words. He should have known that’s why she went out with Chloe yesterday. He sighed lightly and gave his fiancé a tight smile. It wasn’t that he thought Chloe was a bad person and ever since they left Metropolis he’d been trying to be nicer and get along with her. He had even said yes the few times Oliver asked if they could all go out together. Hal knew Oliver loved Chloe and he accepted that, he wanted his friend to be happy, but he really wished the blonde wasn’t going to be directly involved in his wedding.

But if that’s what made Tess happy, Hal would go along with it. “Well, that’s convenient and yeah I’m sure Oliver definitely wouldn’t mind that. I wouldn’t be surprised if it wasn’t a preview for the future,” He joked while attempting to ease the tension in his shoulders. They were going to be at his Mother’s house any minute and he didn’t want to walk in there in a bad mood. Chloe wasn’t so horrible…he could deal with her for a few hours at a time. It wasn’t a big deal he told himself as he ran a thumb over Tess’s hand lightly.

Tess laughed. “I wouldn’t be surprised given the rapid rate their relationship is progressing at. But they’re happy and that’s all that matters,” she said. Tess could tell from Hal’s tone that he wasn’t thrilled but he was trying to hide it and she appreciated that. They were quiet for the rest of the drive and when Hal brought the car to a stop in front of his mother’s house, Tess grabbed his arm before he had a chance to get out of the car.

“I love you,” Tess told him. She gripped his face in her hands and pressed her lips against his. She’d been busy at work lately and he’d been busy with both of his jobs and it seemed like they’d spent less time together since they’d gotten engaged. Tess didn’t want Hal to ever forget that he was her number one priority even if their day to day life sometimes got in the way of things.

Hal groaned and deepened the kiss, slipping his tongue into her mouth as he threaded his fingers into her hair. He kissed her until his chest burned before finally pulling back and resting his forehead against hers. “I love you too,” He said quietly. He had missed her lately, between both their schedules the only time they ever really got to spend much time together was a night or when they made plans to go out with Oliver and Chloe, which wasn’t exactly alone time for them. He felt like they hadn’t actually spent much time together since they got engaged, which was one of the reason’s he was looking forward to tonight.

He pressed another quick kiss to her lips before unbuckling his seatbelt and motioning towards the house. “You ready?” He asked lightly while sending her a small smile.

“Actually, I’d like to makeout with you in the car for awhile longer but I’d hate for your mother to get the wrong idea and think I was one of those loose women,” Tess teased. She gave him another kiss and then undid her seatbelt and got out of the car. She smoothed her hand over her clothes and waited for Hal to walk around the car. She wrapped her arm around his and leaned against him as they walked toward the house.

“I’m glad we’re doing this. I feel bad that we had to cancel the last few times,” Tess said. Like she’d told Chloe at lunch, she had always liked Hal’s family. They had treated her as one of their own from the beginning. It had been really nice to be welcomed into their home after all the horrific things she had been through.

Hal nodded dropping an arm over her shoulders as he pulled her into his side and steered her towards the door. “I’m glad we are too. My Mom’s been calling a lot lately with all kinds of ideas and plans that she wants to talk to you about. She’s pretty excited about this wedding of ours,” He teased as he ushered them up the stairs. He knew that his Mom was extremely happy he’d finally decided to settle down.

When he told her that he proposed to Tess she let out a loud noise and told him it was about damn time. Hal shook his head at the memory grinning slightly. He knew she was already plotting and wanted to make this wedding as big as his brother’s was, but both he and Tess had decided on a small wedding, he just hoped she and Tess could agree on this so he didn’t have to play peacemaker. He took a deep breath as they paused in front of the door. He supposed tonight would be the night he’d find out if they could.

“That’s great,” Tess said. She could probably use all the help she could get with the planning process. Tess knew Chloe would help but neither one of them were the type who wanted to be bothered with all the mundane details that most brides salivated over. Tess wanted to keep things simple. Being the center of attention wasn’t really her thing and she didn’t want their wedding to be an over the top event.

She knew Hal understood that and he’d agreed to keep it small. Tess figured his mom could help point her in the right direction of all the people she needed to talk to and then her and Chloe could pick out the specific dresses and flowers and whatever else there was. It probably wouldn’t take more than a few hours to arrange everything.

Hal reached forward and rang the doorbell before dropping back and waiting for his Mother to answer the door. It took a minute but he finally heard the sound of the lock seconds before the door was pulled open.

Jessica Jordan grinned at the sight of her son and his fiancé. She pulled the door open wider before stepping forward and pulling Hal into a hug. “It’s about time you got here,” She said lightly before pulling back and turning to Tess, her smile widening. “Oh there’s the gorgeous bride to be, come here you.” She said before tugging Tess into a hug. She was so glad her don had finally proposed to the red head. She had started to wonder if it was ever going to happen.

She stepped back and took Tess’s hands in hers as she pulled the younger woman into the house while talking a mile a minute. “I have so many great ideas to run by you for the wedding. I was thinking a theme would be good maybe some ice sculptures…oh and we’ll have to talk colors…something light maybe and of course we’ll have to rent a large space for all the guests.” She said while leading Tess towards the kitchen.

Hal stood outside the door and let out a light chuckle as he walked inside closing the door behind him as he shook his head. And so it began he thought as he followed behind his Mother and Tess toward the kitchen.

“It’s nice to see you too, Mrs. Jordan,” Tess said when Hal’s mother finally paused to take a breath. Tess’s head was spinning over all the wedding details that she wanted to go over, but the part about needing a large space for all the guests stuck out the most. She glanced back at Hal, wondering if he had told his mother that they planned on having a small wedding. He was looking at his mother with a proud grin on his face and Tess knew she was on her own for this one. She wasn’t sure if she should say something now about the fact that they didn’t want a big wedding or wait. She didn’t want to start the night off on the wrong foot but she didn’t want everyone Hal had ever met at their wedding either. 

“Hal and I have been looking forward to talking to you about the wedding,” Tess said. She gave the older woman a polite smile as she tried to think of a tactful way to put things. “But we both assumed it would be on the small side. I don’t have any family unless you count Oliver and I don’t really plan on inviting people from work.” She let her voice trail off, hoping she would take the hint.

Jessica moved over towards the stove as Hal plopped down in one of the chairs his eyes falling on Tess. He knew she didn’t want a large wedding and honestly neither did he, but he didn’t have the heart to not let his Mother go all out. She had been so excited since their announcement and he didn’t want her to feel like couldn’t give them her opinion. He opened his mouth to say something, but before he could his Mother spoke while waving a hand in Tess’s direction.

“Oh but sweetie, this is a big deal,” She said lightly as she stirred the sauce she’d made from scratch. “You don’t even worry about it, I’ll take care of Hal’s side of the guest list and you know we’re your family too Tess,” She told her with a grin before her eyes shifted to Hal. She frowned as she gave her son a once over.

“Have you been eating? You’re looking a little thin,” She told him before shaking her head and turning back to Tess patting her lightly on the arm. “That’s another thing. At some point I’ll have to pass on some of Hal’s favorite recipes for you.” She said before once against turning back towards the stove.

Hal snorted lightly at the thought of Tess cooking, but he quickly covered it up with a cough when Tess glared at him. He gave her a sheepish grin before clearing his throat. “What’s for dinner Mom?”

Jessica glanced over her shoulder at her son and arched an eyebrow at him. “Pasta, have you talked to your brothers about being groomsmen?” She asked while walking towards the refrigerator and pulling out some ice tea. She went to the cabinet and pulled out two glasses before pouring some for Hal and Tess. She slid once glass to her son before handing one to Tess.

Hal nodded. “Yup. Oliver’s my best man and obviously Jack and Jim are my groomsmen,” He told her lightly while pulling the glass to his lips and taking a long sip.

Jessica nodded and turned to Tess with a smile. “What about you dear?”

“Me?” Tess asked uncertainly. She was still trying to wrap her mind around the fact that Hal’s mother expected her to cook for him. Tess loved Hal but this wasn’t some sitcom from the fifties. He knew how to cook and he also knew how to pick up the phone and order carry out just as well as she did. Tess’s idea of cooking began and ended with heating up leftovers in the microwave or putting food in the toaster. Hal had never complained about her lack of cooking and judging by that snort he’d let out, he wasn’t going to start anytime soon. She decided to just let this one go.  

“Oh, you mean bridesmaids,” Tess said. “Well I asked Chloe, Oliver’s girlfriend, to be my maid-of-honor and I was going to ask Maria to be a bridesmaid,” she said referring to Hal’s sister-in-law. But now she realized that she was one bridesmaid short. Maybe she would need to start making friends at the office. She glanced at Hal again, hoping he would rescue her from having to point out to his mother that she didn’t have any friends.

Hal noticed the look on Tess’s face and he glanced at his Mother. “Mom we just got here, can we save the wedding talk for dinner? Plus everything doesn’t need to be decided this second. When Tess knows who she’s going to ask I’m sure you’ll be the first person tells.” He told her lightly in an attempt to get her to back off.

Jessica frowned slightly. “I was only asking, we could always ask one of your cousins to be the third bridesmaid,” She told them while checking on the pasta that was cooking. “What else were you two thinking? Are there any things you definitely do or don’t want? I’ve got books full of places and bands and color samples in the other room leftover from Maria’s wedding. We can go through them during dinner,” She said cheerfully.

Hal glanced at his fiancé and gave her a helpless look. He knew his Mother was going slightly over board and he could see the hesitation on Tess’s face. He patted the seat next to him and motioned for her to come to him, hoping that he could at least calm her down a bit. He knew weddings were a big deal to a lot of people, but all he cared about was being married to Tess. The wedding itself big, small, it was just a ceremony it was what came after that mattered to him.

Tess was trying not to panic. It was obvious Hal’s mother was envisioning another large wedding that would rival his brother’s. Tess had seen pictures and part of the wedding video once at Hal’s nephew’s birthday party. She liked Maria well enough, but the two of them could not be more different. Tess had no doubt that Maria had loved planning a lavish wedding and being the center of attention. Tess didn’t want that and she knew it would be wise to tell Mrs. Jordan that now before she started booking bands and stadiums for the all the guests.

But Tess didn’t want to upset Hal. She could see that he felt bad but he also didn’t want to go against his mother. Tess took the seat beside him and offered him a small smile. She could suck it up for one night and let Mrs. Jordan gush over wedding plans. It wasn’t like they had to make any actual decisions then and there. Tess would listen to her ideas and maybe use a few of them that weren’t over the top and then she would quietly handle everything else with Chloe. It was a win-win situation. She squeezed Hal’s hand and turned back to his mother.

“I think that sounds like a great idea. I’d love to see your book,” she said.

Jessica beamed at Tess before walking past them and patting Hal on the cheek. “Such a smart and beautiful woman you managed to snatch up.” She said while making her way back towards the food. “Why don’t you two kids go sit at the table in the dining room? You can start on the salad while you look at some of the books. I’ll be right in with the rest of the food,” She told them before bringing the pot to the sink and draining the pasta.

Hal glanced at Tess and pushed himself off the chair taking her hand in his and nodding his head in the direction of the other room. “Come on Red,” He said softly before placing a kiss to the side of her head and tugging her gently out of the kitchen.

 

______

 

Oliver held Chloe’s hand tightly in his as they walked along the brightly lit pier. Between work at Queen Industries and patrolling, he’d been busy most of the week and he’d felt bad that Chloe had been stuck in their apartment with little to do other than the small projects she was helping the team with. Saturday night was the annual Queen Industries’ fundraiser but Oliver knew that would be more of a chore than an actual night out and he wanted to spend time alone with his girlfriend. He’d left work early Friday afternoon and had surprised Chloe when he’d come home and told her that he was kidnapping her for the rest of the day.

They’d gotten in his favorite silver sports car and he’d taken her for a long drive up the coast so she could really see the ocean. They’d ended up in Santa Monica and he’d taken her to dinner at one of his favorite seafood restaurants and after dinner they’d walked through the promenade, ducking into little stores and doing more window shopping than actual shopping. Unlike in Star City, there were so many A-list celebrities that called Santa Monica home that no one paid any attention to Oliver and it was nice to have anonymity and just be able to stroll around like a normal couple.

He’d saved the famous pier for last because Oliver knew Chloe would love it. As always, it was packed with people as they walked through the rows of shops and kiosks and in between the lines of people waiting to get on rides as pop music blared through the speakers all around them. Oliver barely noticed any of it; he was too busy watching Chloe take it all in. She seemed to really be enjoying herself and Oliver loved seeing her smile so much and hearing the excitement in her voice as she noticed new things and pointed them out to him. Oliver felt like he was falling even more in love with her.

“So what do you want to do next, Sidekick?” he asked as they strolled past several food vendors.

Chloe glanced around practically bouncing on the balls of her feet as they started making their way towards the games and the rest of the rides. When Oliver had dragged her out of the house she’d been surprised by where they’d ended up. Oliver had never really striked her as the type to loiter around the boardwalk, but he seemed to be having a good time and she most definitely was. The smell of the ocean mixed with the light breeze, lights and the smell of all kinds of food was enthralling.

Sure Metropolis had carnivals, but this, this was something different. Chloe tugged Oliver in the direction of one of the games as she gave him a sideways grin. “I think it’s time for you to win me a prize Hero, put those manly muscles to good use,” She teased while gripping one of his hands in both of hers and turning to face him as she walked backwards a gleam in her eyes while pointing to the display of balloons that needed to be popped with darts.

Oliver smirked at the look in her eye. “I’m not sure how much muscle it takes to throw a dart at a balloon, but I’ll give it my best shot,” he teased as he reached for his wallet. He nodded at the guy running the booth who looked bored and tossed a twenty dollar bill on the ledge of the booth. The guy handed him five darts and told them that the card behind each balloon would tell them which size prize Chloe could choose from. He motioned to the small, medium and large collections of various colorful stuffed animals. 

He picked up the first dart and aimed for one of the balloons in the dead center of the board. At the last second, Oliver moved his hand a fraction of an inch to the side, missing on purpose and letting the dart bounce off the back wall. He knew all of these games were rigged and he wanted to test the resistance of the board holding the balloons. He watched the balloons sway and had a pretty good idea how the game worked. Oliver picked up a second dart and picked a balloon in the center of the board again. But instead of aiming for the balloon itself, he aimed slightly higher and sure enough, the dart pierced the balloon with a loud pop. He followed suit with the next three darts and three more loud pops echoed through the air. The guy pulled out the cards and told Chloe she could choose two large prizes, one medium and one small.

“What do you think, Chloe?” Oliver asked as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her against his side. “Which one of these things can’t you live without?” he teased, knowing she had no use for any of the stuffed toys but he had a feeling she would keep them anyway.

Chloe chuckled and clapped her hands. He was such a show off, but it was one of the things she loved about him. “I want the baby penguin, the monkey,” She put her finger to her lip as her eyes glanced over the stuffed animals, “the alien and…hmm the unicorn.” She said while leaning into his side, her hand pressing against his chest as she reached up on her toes and placed a kiss to his jaw. “Someone got lucky tonight,” She whispered near his ear.

She was pretty sure this was the most fun she’d had in a long time. She couldn’t remember that last time she’d been out doing something normal like this and it was actually more fun than she remembered. Chloe caressed his stomach lightly as she glanced over at the guy who was grabbing the stuffed animals she’d asked for.

“Some would call it talent,” Oliver replied. He couldn’t help smiling at the look on her face and he leaned down to brush his lips lightly against hers. He was well aware of the fact that they were in public around children and people with camera phones so he kept the kiss brief. The guy handed Chloe the small army of stuffed animals and Oliver laughed when her smile widened.

“What exactly are you planning on doing with all of those?” he asked, slipping his arm around her waist as he steered her away from the booth.

Chloe’s grin widened. “Well first I’m going to let you hold the alien and the unicorn, because my arms are tiny and you’re so much larger.” She said amusement dancing in her eyes. “Then I’m going to give the alien to Clark for Christmas,” She snickered lightly. “It can be our first joint gift. And the rest I’m going to put on the bed of course. It will be like the magical world of stuffed animals.” She teased as they made their way through the throng of people.

“What now?” She asked, her mood light. “Your turn to pick the activity Mr. Queen,” She told him while leaning further into his side and letting him lead her around as she listened to the playful shouts around her as kids ran by them chasing their friends and family. Chloe’s face softened before she glanced at Oliver waiting for his answer.

Oliver laughed as he pictured Clark’s face when he unwrapped the alien. “I wish Christmas was sooner,” he said. He took the stuffed animals from Chloe, balancing them between his chest and his hand so he could keep his other arm wrapped around her waist. “I have no problem walking along the pier with these brightly colored toys to spare your tiny arms.” He gave her a knowing look. “But I have to draw the line on the idea of them being anywhere near our bed. Really, Chloe,” he said as he lowered his voice. “The stuff that goes on in there is not for toys,” he told her as he steered her in the direction of the ferris wheel. “You’re not afraid of heights are you?” he asked.

Chloe smirked. “You look adorable with bright colored stuffed animals,” She told him lightly. She had a feeling he’d say something along those lines and she had to keep herself from laughing again. Chloe was pretty sure she’d never smiled this much in one night. She shook her head and pressed a light kiss to his arm. “Nope, not afraid of heights.” She told him before her voice lowered slightly. “Hmm I didn’t know _our_ bed wasn’t a toy friendly place,” She said a hint of mischief in her eyes.

“I’ll have to remember that…no toys in bed. Now is that an everyday rule or just a rule for when you’re sharing the bed with me?” She asked casually. “And where do handcuffs fall on that list? Is that a toy?” She bit her bottom lip to keep from chuckling as they paused near the ferris wheel, a couple of people online ahead of them.

“You are a wicked woman, Chloe Sullivan,” Oliver said. Her words brought all kinds of images into his mind and Oliver forced them aside when a group of screaming kids ran past them to get to the bumper cars. “And I do look adorable with all these stuffed animals,” he agreed. Oliver winked at her and leaned down to kiss her again even as she was laughing at him. “I love you,” he whispered against her lips. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt so carefree and he loved seeing a constant smile on her face. Their lives tended to be too serious and he was glad she was having so much fun.

The line moved forward and the attendant laughed at Oliver as he shuffled the stuffed animals around in his hands as he reached for his wallet. Oliver slipped the guy an extra twenty and asked him if he would keep an eye on them for him. The guy was still laughing as he agreed and ushered them into the next available car. Oliver wrapped both his arms around Chloe as the wheel started turning. “This is just a precaution in case you get cold as we get higher up,” he said.

Chloe gave him a mock serious look as she nodded, “Of course it is,” She said lightly as their car started moving higher. She shifted closer to him and slid a hand up his chest her lips trailing light kisses over his jaw before sliding her tongue against the shell of his ear. “Have I mentioned I’m having an amazing time?” She whispered, warm breath hitting his ear as she placed a hand on his thigh. “I love you too,” She told him softly before placing another kiss near his ear as the wheel stopped most likely to let more people on.

Oliver smiled and rubbed his nose lightly against hers. “I know things have been slow lately and you have to be bored sitting around the apartment all day. Sooner or later things will pick up on the crime front again which obviously isn’t a good thing, but it’s inevitable. I just wanted tonight to be about us so we can just have fun and not worry about anything. We sort of skipped the actual dating part of our relationship and I didn’t want you to miss out on anything,” he said. Oliver realized his words sounded a lot more serious than he’d meant them to, but they were all true. Their lives were strange and there were times when normal experiences were few and far between.

Chloe’s face softened and she leaned back and cupped his cheek. “And that’s just one of the many reasons I love you,” She told him quietly. “You’re always thinking about everyone else,” She said softly as her thumb brushed against his cheek. “I know we sort of skipped a lot of steps, but Ollie,” She paused for a second trying to find the right words. “Even with our busy schedules and our crazy lives…you still manage to make me feel like the most amazing woman in the world,” She whispered.

“These last several months have felt like a dream,” She said blushing slightly and glancing down. “You make me more happy then I’ve ever been,” She told him while leaning into his side, placing a light kiss against his neck, and resting her head against his chest as she wrapped an arm around his waist.

“I love you so much, Chloe,” Oliver said. He pressed a kiss to the top of her head and tightened his grip on her. “I never knew it was possible to be this happy until I met you,” he said softly. Oliver had never really considered himself the type of guy who would get a happy ending. He’d been alone most of his life and while he had some really great friends, he’d never thought he’d find anyone he could share his entire self with and he’d been okay with that.

But once Chloe had come into his life, Oliver had discovered that it was possible to be happy and to love someone more than life itself and still be able to do his job and try and make the world a safer place. He was a lucky guy and he was going to do everything he could to make sure Chloe stayed as happy as she was right now. She deserved that and he wanted to give it to her.


	3. Chapter 3

Chloe sat quietly next to Oliver on the leather seat of the limo doing her best not to fidget. She wasn’t sure why she was so nervous. She and Oliver had just recently hit the six month mark in their relationship and it wasn’t like they’d never been out in public before. Chloe had been completely fine while she was getting ready earlier until Oliver came into the room and made it a point to bring up the fact that there would be reporters and other media at the event and he didn’t want her to feel pressured to talk to them or answer their questions if she didn’t want to.

It was easy for Chloe to forget who Oliver was and what he represented in Star City because with her he was just Ollie. She hadn’t realized until tonight that most of the time they went places together it was small restaurants or quiet places with Tess and Hal. They didn’t do a lot of things that brought them out into the public eye. Chloe remembered Tess saying the other day how Oliver had been keeping a low profile and she’d just let the words go because they didn’t mean much to her at the time.

But now as she sat there, her stomach filled with anxiety, she couldn’t help wondering what exactly the other woman had meant. What was Oliver’s life normally like when he wasn’t trying to keep a low profile? When she was working at the Planet Chloe would occasionally catch headlines about the Star City’s billionaire, but she’d never really put much stock into those. Plus since most of them painted him as a party guy, Chloe just assumed since he didn’t do stuff like that anymore the press wouldn’t be interested in him.

She glanced out the window and crossed her leg smoothing a hand down the skirt of her dress. The color was a mix between a light coral and peach. She hadn’t been certain about it, but she wanted to try for something bright and uplifting. The color gave her a nice youthful look, but the style of the dress itself was elegant and sexy or at least that’s what the sales lady had said. Chloe still wasn’t sure she completely pulled it off.

She wasn’t used to formal events, so the plunging backline and the way the dress was cut in the front and fitted to her body made her feel slightly self-conscious, but Oliver had told her she looked amazing and his opinion was all that mattered to her. Tonight wasn’t about impressing people it was about doing something for charity and getting a chance to see friends, or more accurately one friend.

Chloe shifted again in the seat uncrossing and then re-crossing her leg in the opposite direction. She couldn’t help it; it was her way of fidgeting without actually fidgeting. The driver had told them they’d be pulling up to the front of the event in less than ten minutes. She placed her hands on her lap still quiet beside Oliver as straightened up and waited.

“Chloe, relax,” Oliver said lightly as she shifted beside him again. She’d been quiet since they’d left the penthouse but he’d been watching her and he could see the anxiety that she probably thought she was hiding. He moved closer to her on the seat, resting his hand on her knee as he waited for her to look at him.

He was starting to think it had been a mistake to warn her about the reporters, but he didn’t want her to be unprepared because he knew it was going to be a mob scene. This was the first event he’d hosted in months and despite his efforts to keep things quiet, the press had already gotten a few pictures of him and Chloe and they were probably going to pounce on them like the vultures they were the second they got out of the limo. 

“Don’t worry about the reporters,” he said. “The legitimate ones just want to take a few pictures and ask questions about the company and we just have to ignore the other ones.” Oliver knew it wasn’t always easy to when people started shouting invasive questions, but after awhile the shouts had become like background noise to him.

Chloe nodded at him and gave him half a smile. “I know,” She said softly. She could see that he was trying to ease her worry, which meant she wasn’t hiding it very well. “I’m sorry; it’s not a big deal.” She told him before taking the hand that was on her knee and threaded her fingers through his. “Do you know if Tess is already going to be there? Or will she come after we get there?” She asked lightly.

“She’ll be there already. Tess likes to oversee all the last minute preparations and terrorize the staff a little to make sure everything goes off without a hitch,” Oliver replied. Of course that was only part of the reason Tess always got to events early. She had no use for the press line and did whatever she could to avoid it. But Oliver didn’t want to tell Chloe that since she was already nervous and he didn’t buy her half-hearted denials for a second. He decided to see if he could distract her.

Oliver brought their joined hands to his lips and softly kissed her knuckles. “Have I mentioned that you look absolutely stunning?” He was pretty sure all the blood had rushed straight out of his head the second he’d seen her in the dress and he’d barely controlled the urge to tell her to forget the event and drag her to the nearest hard surface. He figured they’d save that for later.

Chloe’s face softened slightly as she grinned, her cheeks flushing at the compliment. “I think you’re a bit biased there Hero,” She said lightly, a hint of amusement in her eyes. “But thank you. I know you’re probably used to hearing it,” She teased, “But you look quite handsome tonight.” She said with a small smile while leaning into his side. “So how long do events like this work?” She asked a hint of curiosity in her voice.

Underneath the anxiety that was slowly starting to fade was a hint of excitement at the upcoming event. Sure she’d attended a few while covering things for the Planet, but she’d never been a guest at one before, plus she was glad they were getting out for the night. Maybe Oliver was right and there was nothing to worry about with the reporters. They probably had a ton of more important things to report on than Oliver.

“I’m not biased, I’m lucky,” Oliver corrected her. “And thank you,” he said as he pressed another kiss to her hand. “I’d hate for you to have a shabby-looking date even though no one is going to be looking at me.” Oliver knew Chloe had no idea how beautiful she was. He also knew that she wasn’t good at accepting compliments and was just going to roll her eyes and tell him that he didn’t have to say things like that, so he let it drop. 

“These events are like clockwork. Once we get inside there will be cocktails for about a half hour and then I get to give a rousing speech encouraging people to part with their money. Dinner is after that and then socializing which is really just an excuse for everyone to make business deals or stand around and gossip about their competitors.” Oliver hated these events with every fiber of his being. Everyone was fake and putting on a show and while he could play the part of the pampered CEO in his sleep, he preferred not to have to subject himself to mindless conversations for hours on end.

Chloe frowned slightly at the look in his eyes as she ran a hand down his arm. She imagined these types of events weren’t his favorite. “I see, well that doesn’t sound too fun, but I’m here.” She said lightly while shifting closer and pressing a kiss against his jaw. “Maybe we can sneak out early,” She told him hopefully. “After you give your little speech, which I’m sure will be wonderful, we can run off into the night,” She joked.

“Don’t think I won’t hold you to that, Sidekick,” Oliver said. It wouldn’t be the first time he’d left his own party early. He was just glad Tess and Hal were going to be there so Chloe would have company while he was off listening to people talk about things he didn’t care about. The car came to a stop outside the hotel where the event was being held and Oliver glanced at Chloe as he waited for the driver to walk around the car and open the door. He could already see the large crowd of press on either side of the walkway that had been set up for the guests. He squeezed Chloe’s hand. “Remember what I said,” he told her. “These people don’t matter.”

The driver opened the door and Oliver stepped out of the car first. He thanked the driver as the camera flashes started going off all around them. He vaguely heard people shouting his name and yelling out questions. He plastered a smile on his face and waved to the crowd of reporters before turning and holding his hand out to Chloe to help her out of the car.

Chloe sucked in a sharp breath as she heard shouts and saw the flashing lights. Apparently she’d been wrong, people _were_ interested in Oliver. She glanced at his hand, swallowed hard, and reached out taking it before stepping out of the limo. The flashes were bright and she gripped his hand tightly as she moved into his side a wave of anxiety filling her. Chloe had always done her best to stay out of the lime light and off everyone’s radar and this felt like she was doing the exact opposite at the moment.

Chloe pressed closer to his side and smiled beside him as he led them towards the door. Just a few more feet and they’d be inside where she could find out how Tess’s dinner with Hal’s Mom went and possibly calm down a bit.

Oliver could practically feel the tension radiating off of Chloe as she tightened her grip on his hand. He was doing his best to walk quickly without actually looking like he was trying to run away from the press. It was a delicate balance between being polite and making people think he had something to hide by ducking into the hotel without saying anything. He squeezed Chloe’s hand and stopped near the entrance to greet the reporter from the local news station. She was one of the few who had made a point never to report on his exploits, real or imagined, and Oliver knew she was the only one who wouldn’t pressure him to introduce Chloe.

The reporter greeted him with a smile and asked him about the event. Oliver launched into his standard speech about the company and the charity and why it was a worthy cause. She thanked him for his time and he waved at the crowd one last time, ignoring the shouts and nodded at the doormen who ushered them inside. As soon as they were far enough away that the cameras wouldn’t catch their movements, Oliver dropped Chloe’s hand and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. 

“You can breathe now,” he said as he pressed a light kiss to the top of her hair. “I promise the spots flashing in front of your eyes will go away in the next hour or so.”

Chloe let out a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding before glanced up at him and giving him a sheepish smile. “I am so sorry Ollie,” She said softly as she gripped his arm lightly. “I have no idea what came over me.” She told him as her brow furrowed. She had barely blinked as they walked towards the door they probably all thought she was some kind of snob. “I didn’t mean to be so…I don’t even know,” She said quietly as she bit her lower lip and sighed. She slipped her arm through his and motioned towards the other room. “Should we go inside?” She asked quietly.

“Chloe, you have nothing to be sorry for,” Oliver replied. He cupped her cheek and tilted her face toward him so she was looking into his eyes. “I know that was overwhelming for you and there’s nothing wrong with that. I’ve been doing this for years and I still hate it. These things get easier after awhile but don’t feel bad. You didn’t do anything wrong,” he assured her. Oliver leaned down and brushed his lips lightly against hers. He pulled back and offered her his arm once again. “We really should get inside before Tess sends out a search party.”

He led Chloe into the hotel ballroom. The stage had been set up with a podium for his speech as well as banners and plaques representing the work the charity had done in the past. Oliver was happy to see that the reserved tables were small and had four seats at each one so they would be sitting with Tess and Hal. It was bad enough having to make conversation with people he didn’t know or didn’t like all night; he didn’t need to do it during dinner too. He spotted Hal sitting at a table near the stage and started to steer Chloe in that direction when Tess appeared in front of them.

“It’s about time you got here. Jack Baker, the executive from the Mayfield account has been asking for you. I think he finally wants to go through with the deal we’ve been pushing him for but he won’t talk about it with me because he’s a sexist asshole.” Tess rolled her eyes and took a sip of the champagne she held in her hand. She and Hal had arrived nearly an hour ago and it already felt like twelve. She gave Oliver a look when he just continued to stand there. “Go,” she hissed. “I’ll keep Chloe company.”

“Okay,” Oliver said. He didn’t want to leave Chloe alone this early in the evening but he knew she’d be fine with Tess. He pressed a quick kiss to her temple, straightened his tie and went off to find Jack.

Tess sighed. “I hate these things.” She offered Chloe a small smile. “Sorry to drive your date away. You look fantastic, by the way. I’m surprised Oliver let you leave the house,” she teased.

Chloe watched Oliver go before turning her eyes to Tess some of the nervousness receding as she chuckling lightly. “Thanks,” She took a step back and gave Tess a once over. “You look amazing, I love your dress.” She told her before letting her eyes roam around the room. “There are a lot of people here,” She commented as she motioned towards the table where Hal was attempting to get Tess’s attention. “I think Hal wants you,” She told the red head while starting to head in the direction of where they were sitting, Tess by her side. Chloe shook herself out of her thoughts and touched Tess’s arm lightly. “Oh I’ve been meaning to ask how did dinner go the other night?” She asked her lightly, a warm smile on her face as they weaved in and out of people and tables to get to their seats.

“It was an ordeal,” Tess replied. She finished her champagne and handed her glass to a waiter they passed. Tess linked her arm through Chloe’s to slow her stride so she had time to fill her in before they got closer to Hal. “His mother wants us to have this huge wedding and invite everyone she’s ever met in her life. She has this wedding book that she’s kept since Hal’s brother got married and it’s about the size of an encyclopedia.” Tess had nearly had a heart attack when Hal’s mother had handed her the massive book and started showing her all the different samples and ideas she had for everything from dress colors to flower arrangements.

“Hal just sat there grinning like the whole thing was exactly what he wanted. I wasn’t going to pick a fight with his mother in the middle of dinner but if it were up to me, we’d be getting married in the courthouse with you and Oliver there to witness it. I don’t want to make a big deal out of this but if he doesn’t back me up next time, I might have to kill him,” Tess said. She let out a long breath. It had been hard holding all of that in the past few days.

Chloe gave Tess a sympathetic look as she squeezed the red head’s arm lightly. “That would scare the crap out of me,” She said lightly taking note that a few of the people around them were watching them. She was glad Tess was there beside her or she was pretty sure she would have probably run in the other direction. She had no idea why she was so skittish tonight. She shook her head and focused on Tess. “Isn’t the wedding supposed to be about you and Hal and what you guys want?” She asked a hint of confusion in her voice.

“I always assumed that was the point of a wedding. You know making it what the bride and groom wanted. Can’t you talk to her? Maybe explain that you want to keep things small? I know you’ve said that you get along with his family well…Maybe if you just mention it to her she’ll throw the big wedding plans out the window…And if not you have me.” She said with a grin. “And we can plan the perfect small wedding without all the hassle. I’ve got your back.” She told Tess. “It is after all my job as maid-of-honor,” She said amused as they got slightly closer to the table.

“I was hoping you’d say that,” Tess said. She sent Chloe a grateful smile. She’d expected Hal to take her side and when he hadn’t, a part of her had wondered if she’d overreacted. But Tess was glad Chloe saw things her way. She shouldn’t be forced into having a big wedding if she didn’t want to and maybe once Mrs. Jordan had time to adjust to the idea, she would accept it. Tess smiled at Hal as they reached the table and she slipped into her seat beside him. “I’m sorry that took so long,” she said. Tess had told him she’d only be gone a few minutes and it had been nearly forty. But she knew he was used to these events.

He placed an arm around her shoulders across the back of her chair and arched an eyebrow. “Mmm, you’re just lucky I love you,” He said lightly as he leaned over a pressed a kiss to the side of her head. “You can make it up to me later,” He whispered near her ear before pressing a quick kiss there and turning his gaze on the blonde across from them. He watched her for a minute as she sat there slightly rigid looking more than a little uncomfortable. He cleared his throat and when she glanced over at them he nodded at her. “Hey.”

Chloe gave him a small smile. “Hi Hal, how are you?” She asked while shifting slightly and crossing her legs as she leaned back in her seat and attempted to relax.

Hal shrugged. “Things could be worse,” He told her as he rubbed his hand over Tess’s shoulder lightly. He was tired and even though they’d only been at the event for an hour so far it felt like five. He just wanted to go home and get his fiancé out of her dress, though she was looking more than a little amazing tonight. He leaned forward and pressed his lips to her shoulder quickly as he glanced towards the stage. “Remind me how much longer this night is going to last Red?”

“Two to three hours minimum,” Tess replied. She rubbed her hand over Hal’s leg. She knew how much he hated these things. “Oliver’s speech isn’t scheduled to start for another twenty minutes and he usually talks for about thirty minutes and then there’s an hour allowed for dinner. We can’t leave right after dinner but hopefully we can sneak out after that.” She wasn’t really in the mood for socializing either. 

“Sorry about that,” Oliver said as he sat down beside Chloe. He only had a few minutes to sit with them before he had to go backstage and talk to the event coordinator before his speech. He nodded in Hal’s direction. “Hey man, how’s it going?” he asked.

Hal grinned. “It’s going pretty decent, though I have to complain and say your party sucks dude.” He joked as he cocked his head to the side. “Why do the annual fundraisers need to be so long? As CEO of the company you should make an executive decision and shorten them.” He said matter of factly before placing his hand on Tess’s thigh and letting his thumb caress it gently. “How about you? I haven’t talked to you in a few days, anything new and exciting going on?” He asked while reaching forward, lifting his champagne to his lips and taking a sip.

Oliver rolled his eyes. “I’ll keep that in mind for next time.” He draped his arm around Chloe and squeezed her shoulder. She seemed a little more relaxed than she was when they’d first arrived but he could see that she was still tense. “Nothing much,” he said, answering Hal’s question. “Chloe and I went to Santa Monica last night but other than that, I’ve just been working a lot to get ready for this. What about you two? How’s the wedding planning going?” He caught one of the waiter’s walking by and grabbed two glasses of champagne, setting one down in front of Chloe.

Tess grabbed a glass from the tray as well and took a long sip. She really didn’t want to talk about the wedding planning but she didn’t want to hurt Hal’s feelings by trying to change the subject. She figured having a drink was a good compromise so he would be forced to answer Oliver’s question. She was actually curious to see what he thought about all the things his mother had said the other night.

Hal sent Tess a sideways glance, his brows furrowing slightly before he returned his gaze to his best friend and smiled slightly while tightening his arm around his fiancé. “They’re going good. Mom’s being a little overzealous, but you know her she means well and she’ll be a big help once we start putting everything together. It’s nice that she wants to help. Please she’s really excited to put things together with Tess,” He said lightly before placing a kiss to the side of her head and smiling.

“When my brother was getting married, planning the wedding was how Mom and Maria got so close,” He told Oliver as he gave Tess an affectionate look. “So hopefully the same will apply here,” He said lightly.

Chloe pursed her lips and met Tess’s gaze from across the table. She was pretty sure that’s not what Tess wanted to hear and she couldn’t blame her. There was nothing wrong with her not wanting a big wedding. It was her choice and if she really didn’t want a big wedding then Chloe would make sure she helped Tess go around Hal’s Mom to plan the perfect small wedding. She reached forward and moved her hand around the champagne glass and gripped the water before lifting it to her lips and taking a sip

Tess smiled at Hal and took another sip of champagne. She was going to need another glass any second at this rate. She saw the sympathetic look in Chloe’s eyes and was grateful to at least have one person on her side. “Oliver, you should probably get backstage. Leslie will be out here looking for you. She tends to panic,” she said referring to the event coordinator. Tess hated dealing with the woman because she acted like everything was an emergency.  

Oliver nodded and glanced at Hal. “Do me a favor and don’t heckle me this year,” he warned. Hal liked to make faces at him and one year he’d had one too many drinks and had actually called out to him. Oliver never planned on letting him live that one down. He leaned over and pressed a kiss to Chloe’s ear. “I promise I’ll make this up to you,” he whispered. He knew this wasn’t anyone’s idea of a fun time. He stood up and smoothed his hand over his jacket. “I’ll see you guys at dinner.”

Hal sighed. “I’m never going to live that down am I?” He asked Tess quietly as he caught movement out of the corner of his eye while shaking his head. He glanced up and squinted when he saw a reporter making their way towards their table. A young woman pulled out the empty chair next to Chloe and sat down causing the blonde to blink, startled.

Hal arched an eyebrow as the reporter smiled at the three of them. “Hi, Miss Mercer, Mr. Jordan, congratulations on the engagement.” She said with a polite smile. “My name is Cynthia from the Star City Register I was wondering if I might ask you all a few questions,” She said lightly as her eyes drifted towards Chloe curiosity in her eyes.

Tess gave the woman a tight smile as she turned the name over in her head. She wasn’t the Register’s regular business beat reporter. “There are only a few minutes before Mr. Queen’s speech,” she said. She could see the woman looking at Chloe and she had a bad feeling about this. “Perhaps you can schedule something with our publicist. She’s sitting at table six,” she said.

Cynthia glanced towards Tess before her eyes drifted back to Chloe. “And what about if I wanted to ask you a few questions?” She asked sweetly, “Do you have a publicist I should talk to Miss…” She let her voice trail off waiting for the other woman to give her, her name.

Chloe pursed her lips, tensing slightly as she reached for her water again while she eyed the woman next to her wearily. She wasn’t used to complete strangers coming up to her at dinner. It was slightly unnerving. “I’d say no comment and if you’ll excuse us,” She motioned towards the stage where Oliver was about to be announced ignoring the woman’s inquiry of her name.

Cynthia glanced around the table and frowned slightly, but nodded. “Of course, I’m sure we’ll have plenty of time to talk later,” She gave her a small grin before pushing herself up and moving towards the side of the room where the other reporters were.

Hal snorted and rolled his eyes. “They’re ridiculous. At least they didn’t harass you about the whole Luthor thing…or about our wedding.” He said brightly, “That’s a positive thing right? It seems like they’ve all pretty much moved past it,” He told Tess while rubbing his hand against her thigh.

“Yes, I’m not as interesting now that Lex is in prison and I’m just going about business quietly,” Tess replied. She also knew that the reporters would always be much more interested in Oliver and anyone connected to him than they would be in her. Tess knew her instincts had been right and the woman had come over to see if she could find out Chloe’s name. She smiled at her across the table. “You handled that well. It’s always good to be firm and if that doesn’t work, go for bitchy. It always works for me,” she said.

Chloe gave Tess half a smile as the woman on stage continued talking. She blocked her out and leaned forward hesitating slightly before speaking quietly. “Thanks…Are things always like this?” She asked trying to make her voice sound light. She knew things like this probably happened all the time and she didn’t want to make a big deal out of it. This was the life Oliver came with and she loved him more than anything.

But she was a private person and she could feel the eyes around the room on their table or maybe she was just imagining things, but it was making her slightly uncomfortable.

“Not always,” Tess said. She took another sip of champagne and glanced at Hal before turning back to Chloe. “You’ll get more accustomed to which people you should talk to and which ones you should give the ‘no comment’ to. They’re just curious about you and who you are to Oliver because they’ve never seen you before. But eventually you’ll be old news too,” she said. Tess finished her champagne and looked around for another waiter. She sighed when she realized they probably weren’t serving since Oliver was about to speak.

Hal watched Chloe closely noticing the tension in her shoulders and the way she attempting to hide her fidgeting. His friend should have better prepared his girlfriend for this life or she was never going to last once things actually started getting intense. Now that reporters had seen them together, this was only going to be the beginning. He let out a small sigh as Oliver took the stage. The applause around them was loud and when Oliver started talking as much as he loved his best friend, he tuned him out knowing not even Oliver liked the speeches he had to make for these things.

 

______

 

Chloe stood near the side of the room, Hal standing beside her as she shifted on her feet. Oliver’s speech went on without a hitch and as she predicted he was wonderful and the guests had all loved him. Dinner had been pleasant enough and she had finally been able to relax enough to talk to Tess while Oliver and Hal caught up and it was nice. Most people kept to their own tables for dinner. Now that they were in the cocktail hour, though people were milling about and Tess and Oliver had been dragged away once again.

She knew that they had to work and she glanced briefly at Hal and his eyes were roaming around the room. He hadn’t said much to her all night, but that wasn’t actually new. She let out a light sigh and brought the glass of water she’d taken from the table to her lips. She wasn’t a big drinker and she didn’t want to start now.

Hal glanced at the blonde next to him and he could practically see the need to flee written all over her face. He rolled his eyes and downed he last of his champagne. “You need to relax, jeez, the night’s almost over and only a few people have come up to you and said anything. Oliver’s kept most of them at bay. You say you love Oliver well this is his life and you need to lighten up a little bit or the papers are going to paint you as some snobby bitch,” he said without looking at her.

Chloe blinked his words startling her as her chest tightened slightly. She glared at Hal. “Why don’t you just mind your own business? I’m sorry some of us aren’t used to being watched and studied all night long. I feel like I’m on display…I realize something like that wouldn’t bother you,” She said sarcastically tired of his attitude, “But it bothers me.” She said keeping her voice low so no one could over hear them. She didn’t know what his problem was be she really did not want to argue with him in a room full of nosey people.

Hal turned his head in her direction his eyes hard and he leaned towards her slightly. “Well you better get used to it. Oliver is my best friend and the last thing I need you doing is taking off because you can’t handle the pressures of your life being in the public. That’s something that would kill him, so suck it up and stop being such a brat. It’s only going to get worse. If you can’t deal with this how do you expect to deal with what comes after it?” He asked almost harshly.

He wasn’t having a good night and something was up with Tess but he wasn’t sure what it was and why she wasn’t telling him. But he did know that she and Chloe kept whispering about something and he was tired of it.

Chloe’s heart clenched at his words as she swallowed hard her mouth opening and then closing not sure what to say to his outburst. She felt slightly unsteady as she stood there trying to keep her emotions at bay as she stared at him trying to grasp at the anger and push back the hurt.

But before she could say anything Hal stopped a waiter, grabbed another glass of champagne, and spoke. “Maybe you should just cut your losses and leave now if you think you can’t handle this life…it’ll save everyone a lot of grief,” He said before moving away from her.

Chloe watched him a hint of shock on her face as he disappeared into the crowd to presumably attempt to find Tess leaving her standing alone near the side of the room clenching her palms around the glass in her hands. She swallowed heavily ignoring the burning in her eyes as she took another sip of water.

Oliver scanned the crowd for Chloe as he made his way through the room. He’d gotten caught up talking to investors for nearly forty-five minutes and his head was ready to explode. He shook his head when a waiter offered him a fresh glass of champagne. Oliver had already had three glasses and while that was nowhere near his tolerance level, he didn’t think it was a good idea to keep drinking. He was pretty sure Tess had already five or six glasses and he had seen her disappearing toward the bathroom a few minutes earlier. He wasn’t sure what was up with her but he’d noticed she’d seemed tenser than usual.

He finally spotted standing Chloe in the back of the room next to Hal. Oliver could see Hal was saying something and then he stalked off in the opposite direction. Chloe’s face fell and she quickly turned to the side and took a sip from her glass. Oliver frowned as he made his way over, wondering what the hell that had been about. He put his hand on Chloe’s shoulder and he could tell he startled her, because she turned around quickly and he saw the tears shining in her eyes.

“What’s wrong?” he asked. Oliver slipped his arm around her waist and pulled her toward one of the doors that led backstage so they could have some privacy. “Chloe, what just happened with Hal?” he asked, doing his best to keep his voice controlled.

Chloe swore to herself. She had hoped Oliver would be too busy to notice what was going on in the room, but apparently that was too much to ask for. She didn’t want to cause any more trouble between him and Hal especially since things were finally good between them again and this was definitely not something she wanted to talk about when they weren’t in the privacy of their own home.

She swallowed hard and gave him half a smile waving off his concern. “Nothing,” She said softly. “Everything is fine. We just had a misunderstanding…are we supposed to be back here?” She asked him attempting to change the subject.

“I have a little bit of pull here and no one is going to say no to me except my girlfriend apparently,” Oliver said. He sighed and dragged a hand through his hair. Oliver felt like a jackass. Chloe was obviously upset and he was making it worse instead of helping her. He reached out, brushing his knuckles over her cheek. “I’m sorry; it’s obviously been a long night for everyone. Chloe, I can see that you’re upset. Please tell me what happened,” he said quietly.

Oliver didn’t understand what Hal could have said to upset her. Conversations at dinner had been hit and miss and he’d spent most of his time talking to Hal while Chloe and Tess talked but when they’d had group conversations, he hadn’t noticed any tension. Hal was supposed to be trying to get past his issues with Chloe and if he wasn’t doing that, Oliver needed to know.

Chloe winced slightly at his words and glanced down. She knew he was under a lot of stress and not having the greatest night. He told her more than once earlier how he hated these events and she was supposed to be there making it better for him and being there to calm him down when he came back from talking to grouchy investors. Instead she was making the night worse. Hal’s words echoed through her head and she swallowed hard to moisten her throat as she glanced up at him.

“I’m sorry,” She whispered, her eyes glistening slightly. “Can we just talk about this when we get back to the apartment?” She pleaded with him, “I’m already uncomfortable enough here as it is,” She told him her voice quiet. “And you still have some time here; I didn’t mean to distract you. I’m okay for now. Let’s just…talk about it later…Okay? Please?” She asked anxious for him to just leave it alone. The last thing she needed was for someone to hear what they were talking about write some kind of crazy story about it.

She didn’t want to embarrass Oliver and even though Hal’s words had been harsh he’d been right. Tonight wasn’t even a big deal and she’d been quietly freaking out all night. She was so used to having to hide everything she did that being out in the open was foreign to her, but she’d get used to it eventually…She was sure she would.

“Okay,” Oliver said. He wasn’t happy about it but he didn’t want to upset her anymore than she already was. Besides, there was another source he could go to. “Can you do me a favor? I think Tess had too much to drink and I saw her disappearing into the ladies room near the front of the ballroom a few minutes ago. Will you go check on her?” Oliver figured Chloe would want a few minutes to pull herself together too and he could track down Hal and find out what the hell he’d said that had upset Chloe so much.

Chloe frowned slightly. “Of course,” She said worry creeping into her expression. She hoped everything was alright she knew Tess was having a rough night. She started to walk away back towards the ballroom when she paused and turned back around. She took a few steps towards Oliver and hesitated, glancing around them to make sure they were still alone before stretching up and pressing a kiss against his lips.

She pulled back a minute later and gave him a small smile. “I love you,” She told him softly before starting to walk back towards the archway to go look for Tess.

“I love you too,” Oliver said. He watched her walk away and then loosened the knot in his tie as he made his way back into the ballroom. He scanned the room and saw Hal standing near their table with a glass of champagne in his hand. Oliver caught his eye and nodded toward the door he’d taken Chloe out of before.

Hal nodded and started making his way toward him. When he got closer, Oliver motioned for him to come into the hallway. He made sure there was no one else around and then turned back to Hal. “What the hell did you say to Chloe?” he demanded. He didn’t bother keeping the irritation out of his voice.

Hal sighed and rolled his eyes. “Really? She came crying to you?” He asked before shaking his head as his chest tightened slightly. It was possible he’d been slightly harsher than he had intended. He shrugged and took another sip of his drink. “Nothing, I just told her she needed to loosen up a little and stop freaking out about nothing,” He told his friend before pursing his lips as he scratched the back of his neck. “Do you know where Tess is? I can’t find her.”

Oliver’s jaw clenched and he glared at Hal. “Chloe didn’t tell me anything. I saw you storm away from her and then she was trying not to cry. What is your problem? You told me that you would give her a chance. Tess asked her to be her maid-of-honor. If she can get past everything that happened, why can’t you?” he demanded angrily. All the frustration and irritation that had been coursing through his system all night poured out of him. “You’re my best friend. Why is it so hard for you to be nice to my girlfriend? I’m not asking you to be her best friend, Hal. I’m just asking that you stop making her cry in public,” he snapped.

Hal let out a short breath and ran a hand through his hair. “I’m sorry,” He said quietly. “I was angry and I took it out on her. I know you love her man and I am trying, you know I am. She was just there…and I lashed out I’m sorry.” He shook his head and pursed his lips. “In my defense though, not that the way I said it was right, but maybe you should have prepared your girlfriend for what your lifestyle was like before you dragged her out in public.” He told him with a shrug. “You’re my best friend Oliver, I just don’t want to see you get hurt if she up and decides that she can’t deal with the life you live,” He said a hint of frustration in his voice.

“But whatever I was wrong and I’ll apologize for what I said as soon as I find Tess and figure out what the hell is going on with her tonight, alright?” He asked while arching an eyebrow in Oliver’s direction, guilt filling his chest as he saw the anger and hurt on his friends face.

“Chloe wouldn’t do that,” Oliver said. But he couldn’t help the hint of doubt that crept into his mind. Chloe had obviously had a harder time with this event than he’d expected her to. She’d been on edge all night and even though she’d told him that she was fine, Oliver had known she was lying. He’d let it go because he hadn’t wanted to make things worse for her but maybe he was the problem. Tess had mentioned that a reporter had stopped by their table before his speech. Maybe all of this was too much for Chloe and if Hal could see it, maybe he should too.

“Tess went into the ladies’ room near the entrance to the ballroom. I sent Chloe to check on her so I could talk to you. I’m sure she’ll be out soon and you can wait for her there,” Oliver said. He glanced at his watch and decided he had put it enough time at the party. He just needed to find his assistant and let her know that he was going to slip out. “I’ll see you later,” he told Hal as he turned and made his way back into the ballroom in search of Mary.

Hal could see how pissed his friend was, but he also caught the hint of doubt in his eyes. He sighed watching Oliver go before slowly making his way back into the room and heading towards the bathroom. He was pretty sure this night was officially over. He just wanted to find Tess and go home.

Chloe had found her way to the bathroom without incident and when she pushed the door open and went inside she glanced around to see if anyone was there. The area looked empty and she shut the door behind her. “Tess, you in here?” She called out to the other woman glad to finally be somewhere that afforded a little bit of privacy so she could get herself together. Something she’d been trying to do all night and hadn’t really had a minute to herself to do it in.

She tilted her head and glanced towards the stalls when the other woman didn’t answer right away. Maybe she had missed her. “Tess?” She called out again lightly.

“I’m here,” Tess said. She took a deep breath and pulled open the door of the stall she’d been hiding in for the past ten minutes. It had been a long time since she’d felt the need to hide during a party but all anyone seemed to want to talk to her about was her engagement. Everyone was commenting on her ring and asking for details about the wedding and the guest list and the whole time she’d just heard Hal’s mother’s voice swimming in her head along with Hal’s excited voice talking about how great it was going to be that the wedding planning would bring them closer. It was too much and she’d just needed a few minutes to herself.

The six glasses of champagne she’d chugged down weren’t helping either. Tess offered Chloe a small smile when she saw the other woman waiting for her in the vanity area of the bathroom. She could see the concern in her eyes but there was a hint of something else there and Tess knew she wasn’t the only one who’d had a bad night. “How did you know I was in here?” she asked. Tess really hoped Hal hadn’t seen her stumbling through the door.

“Oliver told me,” She said softly before patting the round cushion she was sitting on. “It’s the wedding stuff?” She asked already know the answer. She felt bad that people kept prying into Tess’s life. First with the whole Luthor thing, which Chloe still hadn’t forgiven herself for and now with her wedding. Things that were supposed to be private were being poked at by strangers and Chloe knew that couldn’t be easy for her. “Want to talk about it?” She asked quietly while waiting for Tess to come sit with her.

Tess sighed. “Better Oliver than Hal,” she said. She sat down next to Chloe and leaned back against the wall, closing her eyes for a moment and taking a deep breath. “I’m overreacting and I know it but I feel like my personal life is getting out of control.” She opened her eyes and turned her head in Chloe’s direction. “I know you’re a private person and I am too. I was willing to put myself into the spotlight to bring down Lex and I don’t regret that I did that. I’ve always dealt with the press for my job here but Oliver usually takes the brunt of the attention. But tonight when people started asking me about my wedding I just wanted to scream. Instead I drank too much and now I’m hiding in the bathroom.”

She ran her hands over her face, pressing her fingers against her temple to try and ease the tension headache that she knew was going to be much worse in the morning. “I don’t want to disappoint Hal but I can’t keep running away from him either. We’ve never had a problem being honest with each other. We yell and sometimes I throw things but we work it out. But now…he was so good to me these past few months and then he asked me to marry him. I feel like I’m being a bitch for not just going along with this whole thing.”

A genuine smile touched Chloe’s lips at Tess’s words before it was replaced with a frown. She placed a hand over her friends shoulder. “You’re not being a bitch,” She said softly. “There isn’t anything wrong with being a private person. It’s one thing to have people in your face with business related matters, it’s another thing to have them prying into things that are supposed to be just for you and the people you love.” She told her.

“And it’s worse because you don’t want to disappoint Hal, his Mother is being over baring and you just want to forget about it for one night because you don’t know how to handle the situation, but you can’t because of all the people,” She said in one long breath before pointing at the door and sighing. Chloe leaned back against the wall next to Tess and sighed. “You need to tell Hal how you feel, I’m pretty sure he knows something’s up any way.” She told her quietly.

“I’m sure all the champagne I tossed back didn’t go unnoticed,” Tess muttered dryly. “You’re right. I do need to talk to him and I will. What about you? This obviously wasn’t an easy night for you either. Share what’s on your mind in this lovely restroom confessional we’ve got here,” she said. Tess felt a little bit better now that she’d gotten all of that off her chest. She knew it wasn’t going to be easy to have the conversation with Hal, but talking to Chloe first helped.

Chloe gave her a halfhearted smile. “He loves you…I’m sure he’ll understand,” She said quietly before catching her bottom lip between her teeth. “I have the overwhelming urge to go run and hide in the car or the apartment or basically anywhere where I don’t have people staring at me trying to size me up.” She shrugged her shoulders and glanced down at her hands.

“Like you I’m a private person. Staying in the background has always been something I had to do because of helping Clark and everything else. I’m the person behind the scenes.” She said softly. “I constantly forget that Oliver isn’t.” She motioned down to her outfit and frowned. “I can get all dressed up in clothes I’m not comfortable in and go out, smile and stay by Oliver’s side, but it isn’t going to change the fact that I’m not that girl…and I’m afraid of disappointing Oliver.” She told her while fidgeting with her hands.

“I know he loves me and I know none of this is a big deal to him and he hates these events, but it’s not just this…Hal was right it’s only the beginning. I freaked out tonight and this was barely anything. I feel terrible. Oliver’s worried and I’m hiding in the bathroom with you hoping it’s time to go soon…what a pair we make,” She joked.

“Hal is not right. He doesn’t get it because he loves the spotlight. He loves showing off and being the center of attention so he’s never had that moment of fear when everyone is staring at you and all of a sudden you can’t breathe. Oliver is used to being in the spotlight but he’d rather not be especially since it isn’t always favorable to him. But he plays the billionaire CEO card because he has something important to hide. You’re not going to disappoint him,” Tess said confidently. She knew how much Oliver loved Chloe. It was written all over his face each time he looked at her or mentioned her name. Tess doubted there was anything Chloe could do that would disappoint him.

“You just need to be honest with Oliver. He loves you, Chloe and he can see that you’re upset. There’s no point in pretending otherwise. Take your own advice,” she suggested. Tess got to her feet and walked over to the sink to check her makeup. She looked tired and her eyes were glassy from the champagne.

“I’m going to find Hal and get out of here. You should find Oliver and do the same. And when you see him,” Tess paused and reached into the small clutch she carried. She pulled out a small silver box. “Someone asked me to give this to him. I think it was someone from the accounting firm but I was already on my fifth glass of champagne and wasn’t paying much attention,” she admitted as she passed the box to Chloe.

Chloe pushed herself up and took the box. She hesitated for a minute before pulling Tess into a hug. “Thanks Tess…I’m really glad that we’re friends,” She said softly before pulling back and giving her a small smile. “You’ve been really great about everything Tess and it’s made it a lot easier to adjust out here…so again thank you” She told her before holding up the box. “I’ll make sure I give it to him and give me a call tomorrow.” She said lightly before motioning towards the door for her to go first.

“Me too,” Tess replied honestly. “Thanks, Chloe.” She opened the door and was surprised to find Hal standing in the hallway outside. He looked as worn out as she felt and her chest tightened with guilt; she knew it was her fault that he was upset. She went to him and ran her hand over his arm, giving him a tired smile. “Let’s go home,” she said.

Relief showed on his face as he nodded wrapping an arm around her as he led her away from the bathroom and in the direction of the coat check. He’d apologize to Chloe another time when they were alone. He caught sight of her making her way out of the bathroom as he held Tess closer to him glanced down at her. “Tomorrow you and I are going to have to talk about what’s going on,” He paused while arching an eyebrow at her. “I don’t like not being in the loop Red…you know that.” He said quietly.

“I know,” Tess said. She leaned into his side as they walked toward the coat check. “I’m sorry about tonight. I know I’ve been all over the place and I promise we can talk about it later. I love you,” she added quietly. The effects of the champagne were starting to hit her and she had a feeling she was going to be asleep before they even made it out of the parking lot. She wanted to make sure Hal knew that she was sorry before she passed out on him.

He gave her half a smile and pulled her closer to him. “It’s okay…we’ll talk about it once we’ve both had some res,” He said quietly before placing a kiss to the side of her head. “And I love you too Red…Always.” He told her softly.

Oliver saw Hal and Tess standing near the coat check and was about to ask them where Chloe was when he spotted her coming out of the ladies room. He couldn’t read the expression on her face and he hated that the night had turned out to be such a disaster. He’d been thinking about what Hal had said and maybe it had been too soon to throw Chloe into the middle of his public life. He really hoped she wasn’t angry with him. He made his way toward her and gave her a small smile. “Hey,” he said. “Are you ready to get out of here?”

Chloe smiled when she saw Oliver and immediately slipped a hand through his arm. She was beyond ready to leave though she decided against saying that. “Yes,” She told him light as they moved out of the room. They got their coats and made their way towards the front of the hotel to find their limo. As they were standing outside Chloe remembered the box in her hand and she nudged Oliver lightly before holding it out to him. “Tess said someone from the accounting department or something gave this to her for you.” She told him, while keeping her voice light.

“The accounting department?” Oliver repeated, confused. He took the small silver box from Chloe and checked to see if there was a card attached or any kind of markings on it but Oliver didn’t see anything. It wasn’t the first time someone had slipped him a gift at an event like this but it usually came with a business proposal or at the very least a business card from someone who wanted to make a deal with him. He lifted the lid and inside there was a small bronze pin in the shape of an anchor. Oliver lifted it out of the box to see if there was anything underneath, but the pin was the only thing there. “That’s weird,” he said. 

Oliver held out his hand so Chloe could see the anchor and then slipped the pin and the box into the pocket of his jacket. He would worry about who sent it to him later. He glanced at Chloe and noticed that she seemed calmer than the last time they’d talked. “Was Tess okay?” he asked as the driver held the door open for them so they could slide into the back of the limo.

Chloe climbed carefully into the limo the tension releasing from her shoulders the minute she was seated inside on the leather seats. She nodded as she brushed off her dress. “Yeah,” She told him lightly, “It’s been a long night for her too.” She told him quietly, not wanting to say anything about what they discussed since she knew Tess hadn’t had a chance to talk to Hal yet. “She’ll be okay once she gets some rest and talks to Hal.”

He could tell there was more to the story but she wasn’t going to share and that was fine. Oliver was more concerned about her at that moment. “What about you? Are you okay” he asked as he settled into the seat beside her. Chloe had said earlier that she didn’t want to talk about whatever it was that was upsetting her, but he’d never been good at being patient.

Chloe nodded and rested a hand against his leg. “I’m okay now,” She said before pausing and glancing up at him. “I’m sorry about tonight,” She told him softly. “I know I didn’t handle things as well as I should have…I hope I didn’t cause any trouble.” She glanced down at her lap feeling slightly sheepish about the way she’d acted now that they were alone. It had just been one thing after the other and Tess was right when they were in the bathroom. Having an entire room of people staring and wanting to know things about you is unsettling and slightly scary when a person isn’t used to  it.

Oliver cupped her face in his hands, tilting her head up so she was forced to meet his eyes. He watched her for a moment, not saying anything and then he closed the distance between them, covering her mouth with his. He kissed her slowly, drawing it out until they were both gasping for air. He pulled back just enough to rest his forehead against hers and looked into her eyes once again.

“You don’t need to apologize and you didn’t cause any trouble. This probably wasn’t the best first event for me to bring you too since I ended up leaving you alone most of the night. I’m sorry about that.” Oliver brushed her hair back from her face, tucking it behind her ear. “I love you and I don’t expect you to just dive headfirst into this lifestyle. I barely tolerate it and I’ve been doing this for years,” he reminded her.

She nodded. “I know and I knew you had to work, its fine. I just,” she paused and shrugged slightly. “I didn’t realize I guess. I’m not used to seeing this part of your life and sometimes I forget who you are to everyone else, because to me you’re just Ollie.” She said softly. “Thank you for being patient with me,” She whispered, “And I love you too.” She said before pressing a kiss to his lips and shifting her body until she was leaning against his side as the limo driver pulled away from the curb heading in the direction of the penthouse.

“Anything for you, Sidekick,” Oliver replied. He brushed his nose against hers and then leaned back against the seat, pulling Chloe with him. It had been a long night; he was exhausted and he was sure she was too. But she didn’t seem upset anymore and Oliver was relieved. He knew there weren’t any major functions coming up on his schedule anytime soon so he figured they could just go back to being themselves and not worry about being in the public eye for awhile.


	4. Chapter 4

Chloe made her way down the stairs while buttoning her shirt. It was just after nine and Oliver had left for work close to two hours ago. Her heels clicked against the tile as she stepped off the last stair and went straight for the kitchen.  She walked past the island and pulled open the cabinet grabbing her favorite mug before moving towards the coffee maker. Chloe poured herself a generous amount while she moved around the kitchen grabbing the milk and sugar.

It had been four days since the annual Queen Industries fundraiser and aside from a few articles that had come out about the event and her and Tess’s engagement to Hal, things had been mostly quiet. Though Chloe had been spending most of her time around the apartment lately because it seemed like every time she went out, even if it was just to run to the drug store there was someone there with a camera.

It was annoying, invasive, and she couldn’t say she enjoyed it, but she guessed that was the price you paid for being in love with Oliver Queen and Chloe was fine with that. She had spoken to Lois a few days ago when the first article came out and Lois advice was to take it day by and realize that this was something that couldn’t be controlled, but it would eventually die down.

Chloe knew she was right, which was why she was keeping to herself despite the fact that these days, the apartment was so boring that she was considering making trouble herself just so she could have the guys go out and try to stop it, which would give her something to do. She grinned slightly at the thought as she lifted her coffee to her lips and took a long sip before walking towards the island and glancing at the newspaper.

She leaned against the granite flipping through the paper, pausing on the third page as she caught sight of the word ‘Slain’ in one of the articles. She frowned folding the paper as her eyes scanned the words in front of her. Chloe pursed her lips and shifted coffee in one hand the paper in the other as she made her way down the hallway towards the computer room. When she got inside the room she placed her coffee on the desk and booted up the computers before sitting down.

She waited a minute while everything loaded before logging in to the secured server and running a search on the article she read. Several minutes later a few pieces popped up. Chloe hacked into the city files and the coroner’s report and copied all the information to the system. She pulled open her email, typed in Oliver’s address and attacked the files before encrypting them. She wrote out an email letting him know she wanted to give him a heads up just in case it turned into something more.

Chloe pressed send and minimized her email before pulling her phone out of her side pocket. She dialed Oliver’s cell number before leaning back into the chair. She wanted to check in with him and make sure the email went through, plus it was possibility she was slightly board and hearing his voice always made her feel better.

Oliver was in the middle of reading a lengthy contract when his cell phone vibrated across the desk, startling him. It had been a surprisingly quiet morning and that had been a nice change of pace after the week had gotten off to a bad start. His publicist had called him early Monday morning and let him know that several tabloids had planned on running stories about his less than flattering past and how his new small town girlfriend fit into his wild lifestyle. Sam had managed to squash most of the articles but Oliver knew that wouldn’t be the end of it. He’d decided against saying anything to Chloe. He knew photographers had been following her and she’d basically stopped leaving the apartment. He felt bad but Oliver knew it was probably the best solution until some of the hype from the party died down.  
  
Sam had also stopped the papers from printing a story about Tess having a drinking problem. An anonymous source from the event had been quoted on Tess’s behavior at the party and claimed she’d been stumbling drunk by the time the night ended. Oliver still didn’t know what was going on with Tess, but he’d asked Sam not to mention anything to her either.

He didn’t want to add to her stress level or Hal’s. There had been a few tabloid articles about the party that had slipped past Sam’s reach, but the gossip mill must have found something else to talk about because this was the first time his phone had rang all morning.  
  
He reached for it, smiling when he saw Chloe’s name on the caller ID. “Hey Sidekick,” he answered. “What can I do for you?”

Chloe smiled and leaned back and relaxed into her seat “Hey Hero, I was just calling to see if you got the email I sent you.” She said lightly while taking another sip of her coffee. “How’s your day going so far?” She asked even though she knew he’d only been there for two hours.

“It’s been a quiet morning,” Oliver said. He turned his seat toward the computer and switched out of his Queen Industries’ email to pull up the secure email server he used for team communication. “I’ve been reading contracts which is every bit as exciting as it sounds,” he told her as he logged in and clicked on the email from Chloe. “How’s your morning going?” he asked as he waited for it to load. “Aside from missing me terribly, of course,” he teased.

Chloe snorted, “Please you just left two hours ago, I haven’t had time to miss you yet,” She told him while grinning. “My morning is boring,” She said while pouting. “Do you think the guys would get mad if I started some kind of catastrophe so that they could stop it? And would that make me one of the bad guys?” She asked her brows furrowing as she contemplated the idea, not that she’d ever actually do it. She wondered what Tess was doing and if she could kidnap the other woman for a few hours.

She knew Tess’s job was important and she couldn’t just take off whenever she wanted, but she also knew the other woman could use a break and Chloe could use the company.

“Your morning is so boring that you’re considering switching to the dark side but you don’t miss me? I’m really feeling the love here, Chloe,” Oliver said. The email loaded and he turned his attention to the screen, raising his eyebrows when he saw that there had been a murder over the weekend. Star City had its share of crime, but murders were thankfully rare and most of the time they were the result of a domestic dispute.

But according to the report Chloe had sent him, a woman’s body had washed up on a remote stretch of beach Sunday morning. The coroner determined she’d been in the water less than twenty-four hours and the cause of death was listed as strangulation.  
  
“It doesn’t look like the police have any suspects,” Oliver commented as he scanned the rest of the coroner’s report. Aside from the wounds on her neck, all of the other injuries were consistent with being in the water and there were no signs of sexual assault. He opened the attachment that had a picture of the woman. She was in her late thirties and there was something familiar about her. Oliver frowned and clicked on the other attachment. Her name was Samantha Spencer and her occupation was listed as real estate agent. Oliver briefly wondered if she had sold him one of his properties but that didn’t seem right. He turned the name over in his mind again, trying to place it as he stared at her picture.

Chloe rolled her eyes as she leaned forward pressing several keys on the computer and bringing the information she’d sent him back onto her screen at his words about the lack of suspects. She ran the woman’s name through one of the searches to get more information about her. Chloe tapped her fingers lightly as she spoke. “Stop being so dramatic, you know I love you, but you realize I saw you before you left right?” She teased, “Soon you’re going to get sick of seeing me so much.” She joked as the computer beeped.

“I’m sending you some background information about her now. Name, addresses, her spouse is deceased and there’s a bunch of other stuff here too,” She told him before sending out the email. “And I’m not contemplating going to the dark side…I mean it’s not like I don’t know a few heroes who can come save the day…” She said, a smirk pulling at her lips.

He opened his mouth to respond to her snarky comment but something else she’d said registered in his head and suddenly he felt like a ton of bricks had just fallen on his head.  _Her spouse is deceased._ Oliver’s mind flashed back to a funeral three years earlier.

Samantha Spencer had just walked up to the front of the church and she was standing behind the podium about to give the eulogy when she was overcome with grief. Her body started convulsing and the sound of her uncontrollable sobbing echoed through the silent church. Two people who had been sitting in the first row rushed to her side to try and calm her down while the priest stepped forward to say a prayer for the deceased, Nicholas Spencer.

Oliver had been sitting in the back row of the church and he’d wanted to run out the door the second he saw the woman moving toward the podium. He hadn’t wanted to come in the first place and his head was still throbbing from the gallons of alcohol he’d poured down his throat the night before. He’d started to get up, but Tess’s hand had closed over his arm and she held him in place, somehow knowing his intentions. So he’d sat there and watched Samantha Spencer fall apart and he’d forgotten all about his pounding headache when the ache in his chest had threatened to swallow him whole.

His mind snapped back to the present, but Oliver felt that familiar guilt gnawing in his chest. He stared at her picture for another moment and then reached into his bottom drawer, pulling out the bottle of scotch he kept in there. He didn’t bother with a glass; he just unscrewed the cap and took a large swig from the bottle, not caring that it wasn’t even ten o’clock in the morning. The liquid burned his throat and Oliver forced himself to take a deep breath, remembering that Chloe was still on the phone.

“Chloe, I need you to find out everything you can about this. Find out if there have been similar crimes in other cities nearby or if the police just think this is an isolated incident.”

Chloe frowned as she straightened up in her seat. Something about the tone of his voice was off. She could hear the tension in it and a hint of anxiety creeped through her. "I'll run it through the state wide database...what's going on? Have you seen something like this before?" She asked quietly. Sure things had been slow lately, but she was only kidding when she said she wanted something bad to happen so she wouldn't be bored. Oliver was making it sound like this could be a real issue and not just another murder.

“Not exactly,” Oliver replied. He ran his hand over his face and reached for the bottle of scotch again. He had seen Samantha Spencer one more time after the funeral. It had been about six months since the funeral when he’d knocked on her door. He’d seen the surprise flash across her face when she’d found him on her porch. Her three year old son had run to the door as well and he’d stared up at Oliver with wide blue eyes; the same blue eyes his father had. Oliver had nearly lost his nerve but he explained to Mrs. Spencer why he’d stopped by. She’d listened, looked down at her son and then politely told him that she wasn’t interested and closed the door in his face. The next thing Oliver remembered about that day was Hal dragging him home and telling him that he was tired of picking him up off barroom floors.

Chloe's frown deepened at his distant tone. She ran the article through the system, her eyes on the computer checking to see if any similar articles popped up. She held the phone between her ear and her shoulder as she continued typing. She hesitated before biting her lower lip. "Not exactly?" She asked encouraging him to give her more information. She wanted to know why this seemed important to him and what was running through his head.

“I’m sorry,” Oliver said. He forced the images out of his head and told himself to get a grip. He could hear the confusion in Chloe’s voice and he knew he wasn’t making any sense. He started to lift the bottle to his lips again, but changed his mind, placing the cap back on and shoving it in the drawer. It had been three years since Nicholas’ death and he wasn’t going to let himself go down that path again.

He wasn’t that person anymore and he didn’t want to drag Chloe down a memory lane that was nothing but a horror show. He opened the other email she sent him and ignored the way his stomach turned over when he saw the son’s name was Nicholas Jr. Samantha Spencer’s death had nothing to do with Nicholas’ and Oliver knew he needed to keep his head clear so they could find her killer.

“Murders don’t happen a lot here and it took me by surprise,” he said carefully. Oliver knew that probably wasn’t going to be enough to satisfy Chloe’s curiosity given his initial reaction. His eyes fell on the son’s name again. “Someone made that kid an orphan and I want to make sure that person is brought to justice.” He wasn’t sure if the sick feeling in his stomach was coming from the alcohol he’d imbibed or the fact that he was trying to convince Chloe that the case was upsetting him because it reminded him of his own life. Either way, he felt disgusting.

Chloe's finger's paused and her chest tightened at his words something still felt a little off to her about his reaction, but it seemed like maybe there were a mix of things unsettling him at the moment so she'd let it go. "I'm sorry Ollie," she said her voice low. "Maybe you should take the day off. You've been running around a lot lately and I know I haven't said anything, but you seem stressed." She told him honestly. "I can look into Samantha Spencer and you can work from here," she said lightly. She was worried about him.   
  
He was always so busy running around cleaning up everyone's messes that he didn't spend enough time worrying about himself, but now that she was around, that was going to change. She worried about him enough for both of them. Maybe instead of worrying about reporters and looking for something to do with her spare time, she should have been paying more attention to Oliver. She let out a small breath while shaking herself out of her thoughts and turning her attention back to the phone.

It was a tempting thought and Oliver considered saying yes. He knew he wasn’t going to get much work done now that he had this case on his mind, but he wasn’t sure going home to Chloe was the best idea. Oliver needed more time to pull himself together before he was going to be able to look her in the eye without her knowing that something was wrong. She probably already knew something was wrong and he didn’t want to make it worse. He wanted her to focus on the case, not on him.

“That’s the best offer I’ve had all day, Sidekick but it’s probably not a good idea. We both know if I come home now, you’ll just end up naked and neither of us will get any work done.” Oliver tried to keep his voice light despite the ache in his chest. His eyes shifted from the computer screen to the bottom drawer of his desk as he considered grabbing the scotch again.

Chloe swallowed hard and tried not to be hurt by him not wanting to come home. Oliver ran a multi-billion dollar business. He couldn't just take off and leave on a whim because she wanted him to. Her schedule was a lot more free then his and she needed to understand that.  
  
She _did_ understand that. She straightened up slightly and pushed the hurt aside trying for humor. "I should be offended that you think I can't keep my clothes on when you're around." She told him before pursing her lips. "Okay, well I'll let you get back to work and I'll keep working on the Spencer case." She said while looking back at her screen.

A faint smile touched his lips and he decided against pulling out the bottle. “You shouldn’t be offended, Chloe. It’s not your fault you can’t resist me.” Another wave of guilt slammed into him when he saw Samantha Spencer’s face on his computer screen again. Oliver swallowed hard and tried to ignore the memories that flashed before his eyes. “Call me if you find anything and I’ll see if I can get out of here early this afternoon,” he said.

Oliver knew that would depend on how long it took him to get his head together. “Chloe, I love you.” He couldn’t help the serious tone his voice took on. He hated not telling her everything but Oliver didn’t think there was any reason to. Maybe it made him a coward, but he didn’t want her to know that part of him.

"You're real cute. Keep it up and we'll be testing my ability to say No to you," she teased even though her heart wasn't in it. She found herself frowning again at the seriousness in his voice. "I love you too Oliver," she said pausing for a minute. "You know that...Are you sure that nothing is bothering you? Because I'm a good listener you know," she let her voice trail off as she waited to hear if he told her what was actually going on. Her eyes drifted to the screen in front of her and she squinted at the photo of Samantha Spencer as she ran the system through another search.

“I know you are,” Oliver said. He squeezed his eyes shut and tried to force everything out of his head. It was obvious Chloe was worried about him and that was the last thing he wanted. He needed to treat this like any other case. The fact that he’d known Samantha Spencer was not relevant. It was just a coincidence that was bringing up bad memories and he needed to stop letting them get to him. He wasn’t going to be any good to anyone, including the woman’s son, if he continued down this path.

“I’m fine,” he told Chloe as he opened his eyes and looked at the screen again. He closed out the attachments and forwarded a copy of the email to Hal with an FYI at the top. He knew they’d both been lax on patrols lately since things had been quiet and it was time to start stepping things up. “I just forwarded everything you sent me to Hal. You can probably hold off on sending anything to the rest of the guys until we figure out if this was a random incident or if it’s something bigger.”

Chloe pursed her lips, but said nothing to contradict his words. "Okay, I'll see you later then, have a good day." She said before disconnecting the call and tossing her phone on the desk, her brows furrowed. Chloe sighed and shook her head, but she couldn't seem to shake the bad feeling that settled in the pit of her stomach as she continued to look up information about Samantha Spencer's death.

Oliver winced at her quick sign off and briefly considered calling her back. But what was he supposed to say? He’d already decided not to tell her the real reason the case was upsetting him so much. He rubbed his hand over his face again and set the phone back down on the desk. It was probably best to just leave it alone for now. He’d work on getting out of his head and hopefully by the time he got home, he’d be back to normal. Sighing, Oliver picked up the contract again and attempted to concentrate even as the sound of Samantha Spencer’s sobs echoed through his head.

 

______

 

Hal pulled open the refrigerator and grabbed a beer. He shut the door, popped open the cap and made his way toward the porch wanting to get some fresh air. He'd spent the morning arguing with the new manager and when he'd all but quit Carl Ferris had come down, pulled the manager aside and spoke with him.  
  
Whatever he said had the other man bristling before storming off in a huff. Hal's was back in the air less than fifteen minutes later. It was a relief and the flying had really calmed his nerves slightly. A lot of his tension lately had been do to things not going well at work, but not that he was back in the air he felt a lot better.  
  
Hal plopped down on one of the chairs outside and took a swig from his beer. He'd gotten home close to forty-five minutes ago and Tess still wasn't back yet, but that wasn't new. She tended to work late in the winter months, or most months really. He let the breeze blow over him and he sighed lightly.  
  
He still needed to apologize to Chloe, rightfully so. Now that he'd had a chance to talk to Tess and get things with work under control he realized he'd been out of line. Hal took another swing of beer as his mind drifted back to the email Oliver had forwarded him. At first he hadn't thought anything of it, but as he went over the information he realized who the woman was and forwarded the email to Tess with the name of the woman highlighted.  
  
He tried to call Oliver at the office to check on him, but his friend had been busy all day, which was a little too convienant for his taste. He was knocked out of his thoughts by the sound of keys jiggling in the door.

“Hal, I’m home,” Tess called as she let herself into the apartment and closed the door at her back. She flipped the lock back into place, dropped her keys and purse on the chair near the door and shrugged off her coat as she walked toward the kitchen. She noticed the sliding glass door was open and spotted Hal sitting outside. Without bothering to put her coat back on, Tess made her way outside and took a seat on Hal’s lap. “Hi,” she said before pressing a light kiss to his lips. “How was your day?” She smiled at him as she slipped the beer out of his hand and took a sip.

Her day had started out quiet and it had been a nice change of pace. Things were running smoothly at both companies and reporters had finally stopped leaving her messages asking for information about the wedding. Tess felt like things were better with Hal too. She’d woken up the morning after the event with a wicked hangover but once she’d gotten over the urge to never leave her bed again, she’d had a talk with Hal about the wedding. He’d understood what she was saying and promised that his mother was just excited but he didn’t think she would push for anything that Tess wasn’t comfortable with. They’d spent the rest of the weekend lounging around watching movies and there hadn’t been any tension between them since.

Hal grinned as he let his hand slide down her back and rest at the curve of her ass. "Mmm, hello," he said exaggerating the word as he pressed several light kisses on her shoulder and collar bone. "My day was actually pretty good. Guess who's back in the air?" He asked lightly as he tugged on the sleeve of her shirt bringing it down until he could see the skin of her shoulder.  
  
He continued trailing his lips over the spot while he reached up and pulled the beer back from her hands gently. 'That's mine," he said with a wink as he too k another sip.

Tess made a face; more upset about the loss of his lips on her skin than she was about the beer. “That’s pretty selfish of you,” she said as her hand slid into his hair and lightly massaged his scalp. She leaned forward and kissed him again. “Congratulations on getting back in the air,” she said. Tess knew how annoyed Hal had been about not being able to fly the past for days. “I knew they weren’t stupid enough to keep you grounded for long.” She trailed her lips up to his ear and ran her tongue along the outer shell. “I think a celebration might be in order,” she whispered.

Hal groaned and smirked as he put the beer down on the small table next to him dropping his hand to her ass, giving it a playful slap. "Hmm, I think you might be right," he said as something nagged at the back of his head. He didn't exactly want to inturrupt the trail her mouth was making along his skin, but if he got what he wanted to talk to her about out of the way now, he'd have the entire night to worship her body the way she deserved.  
  
Hal threaded his fingers into the back of her hair tugging lightly until he was able to capture her lips with his. He coaxed her mouth open, sipping his tongue into her mouth and tangling it with hers. He didn't release her lips until he couldn't breath. Hal rested his forehead against hers and took a deep breath trying to relax the pounding of his heart.   
  
He licked his lips before pulling back slightly and catching Tess's eyes. "How was your day?" He said lightly before hesitating, "And did you talk to Oliver at all today?" He asked her softly while shifting his hand again and rubbing her back.

It took a moment for the haze to clear from her brain long enough for her to focus on what he was saying. Tess sat up a little straighter on his lap and wrapped her arms loosely around his neck, doing her best to ignore the wave of arousal that he had stirred in her lower belly. “My day was fine aside from that email you sent me,” she said.

Tess had been confused when she’d opened the email because Hal rarely sent her stuff that was related to team activities especially now that Oliver had Chloe working for him full time. She’d been about to call him and ask why he’d sent it to her and then she’d seen the name that he’d highlighted.

Tess didn’t like the memories that had instantly flooded her mind. Her first instinct had been to go down the hall and check on Oliver, but when she’d walked into his office, it had been empty. His assistant had informed her that he’d left early for the day but she didn’t have him scheduled for meetings so she assumed it was personal. Tess had considered calling Chloe, but she didn’t want to upset her for no reason. “I tried to talk to him but he was already out of the office. Did he call you?” she asked.

Hal frowned. "No, when I called him, his assistant told me he was in meetings all day." He told her while pursing his lips. When he read through the email earlier the places his mind went weren't good and he was worried about Oliver. He knew that his friend had been stressed lately and Hal knew the way he'd been treating Chloe wasn't helping, now this?  
  
He wanted to talk to him, but he'd already tried his cell phone and it had gone to voice mail after a few rings. He shook himself out of his thoughts and focused on his fiance. He moved his hand in circles against her back as his other hand dropped to her leg. "You don't think this means anything...do you? I mean it has to be a coincidence." He said lightly.

“I think it’s a coincidence,” Tess said. She chewed on the corner of her lip as her thoughts drifted to Oliver again. Mary telling people he was in meetings all afternoon was the standard response when he was out of the office for any reason but she usually didn’t pass that message along to Hal unless Oliver told her specifically that he didn’t want anyone disturbing him. That made her a little nervous but she tried to ignore it. Oliver wasn’t that person anymore. Seeing Samantha’s name had brought up bad memories for Tess so she knew it had done the same for Oliver. He probably just needed some time to himself.

Tess stroked Hal’s hair and dropped her head to his shoulder, wanting to be closer to him. “It’s terrible for that little boy that he lost both his parents in two separate, horrific ways, but I’m sure it’s just a coincidence. The police don’t have any suspects according to that email so it was probably just a random she was in the wrong place at the wrong time kind of thing. Right?” she asked quietly.

Hal swallowed hard his instincts telling him he didn't believe in coincidences, but he pushed it aside and pressed a kiss to Tess's forehead while giving her a small smile. "Yea, of course it is," he told her softly. "You know there's no way Samantha could have died like her husband." He said the words quietly as he met Tess's eyes knowing that she knew why.  
  
He gave her half a smile. "He probably left work early so he could spend some time with Chloe...You know Oliver," he told her lightly not sure he believed his own words.

She did know Oliver – they both did – and that was the problem. They knew how he tended to wallow in guilt and blame himself for every bad thing that had ever happened. But that stuff had been a long time ago and Oliver was stronger now. He wasn’t going to fall into a pit of despair just because of a coincidence. Hal was right. He probably took the day off to spend with Chloe and they were making a big deal out of nothing.

“I’m sure Oliver is fine,” Tess said. She ignored the voice that said she was just saying the words to convince herself. Maybe she was but she really had no reason to believe otherwise. Hal had a point. Samantha Spencer’s death couldn’t possibly be connected to her husband’s. There was no reason to think this was anything more than a tragic coincidence. She smiled at Hal. “Why don’t we get back to celebrating your good day?” she suggested. Tess ran her hand over his chest. “I could order dinner or we could just skip it,” she said.

Hal’s eyes darkened slightly, his muscles clenching beneath her finger tips as he cocked his head to the side, the hand that was on her lower back once again sliding down to her ass. He leaned forward and kissed her lips lightly and then her cheek before trailing his lips to her chin and down her neck until he got to her ear. He let his tongue dart out tracing her ear before sucking into his mouth lightly. He released it a minute later and spoke. “I think we should go for dessert first,” He whispered against her skin. “We can order dinner when we’re done celebrating.” He told her as he shifted his hands so one was on her back and the other beneath her knees.

Hal stood in one motion Tess in his arms as he winked at her and turned towards the door. “What do you say we get you out of those very sexy very uncomfortable looking clothes…” He said while arching an eyebrow and walking over the threshold into the house.

 

______

 

 

Even with his night vision glasses, it was nearly impossible to see through the thick smoke that filled the cabin of the ship. Oliver covered his face with his gloved hand as he struggled to make his way to the stairs. He felt lightheaded and he wasn’t sure if it was from hitting his head earlier or if there was some kind of chemical mixed in with the smoke. He knew it could be a combination of the two as well but it didn’t matter. He needed to find the bastard and get the hell off the boat before it exploded.

He stumbled over a table but managed to keep himself upright. The smoke was making his eyes water, but he didn’t dare take his glasses off. If something happened and he got away, Oliver couldn’t take the chance that he would figure out his identity. He made his way to the stairs and the higher he climbed, the thinner the smoke got until finally he was on the deck. Oliver took several deep breaths, still choking on smoke as he tried to get the fresh air into his lungs. It had started to rain and there was lightning crashing against the waves and rocking the boat. Oliver was pretty sure he hated boats more than anything else on earth.

“Where are you?” Oliver shouted angrily through his voice distorter. The wind and the rain pounded in his ears as he made his way across the deck, crossbow in hand. He couldn’t have gotten far. He heard a noise behind him and whirled around, keeping his finger on the trigger. Oliver didn’t see anyone, but he knew he was there somewhere, toying with him. He wasn’t going to let him get away to hurt anyone else. This little game was going to end tonight.

He kept walking toward the spot the noise had come from and he found himself at the front of the boat. The shore wasn’t far and he wouldn’t be surprised if someone had alerted the coast guard by now. The fire in the cabin had to be visible from some of the buildings just beyond the beach. Oliver heard another noise and lifted his crossbow as he rounded the final corner. He saw him standing in the shadows, but he wasn’t alone.

“Chloe.” Oliver’s chest tightened at the fear he saw in her eyes. He realized she was being held against the side of the boat and he knew if he made one wrong move, the sick bastard would send her into the sea. “What do you want?” he asked. “I’ll give you what you want, just let her go.”

Oliver saw a slow smile spread across his face and then he shoved Chloe over the side. Her screams echoed in through the air mixing with his own as Oliver ran as fast as he could. He shouted her name over and over again as he dove into the dark water, desperately searching for her. His lungs burned but he kept diving. She had to be there. Oliver shouted her name again and again but all he heard in return was the thunder above and the rain beating against the choppy water.

“CHLOE!”

Chloe shot awake at the sounds of Oliver crying her name. Confusion settled on her face for a second before she turned her head and saw the outline of his sweaty body thrashing against the pillows. She reached over and turned on the bedside lamp before turning to face him. Her chest tightened as her heart broke at the look on his face. In all the time she’d known Oliver he’d never had a nightmare before. She shifted her body pressing her hands against his arms attempting to calm down his movements.

“Ollie…Oliver I’m right here. You’re dreaming…wake up Hero,” Her words were soft so she didn’t startled him and when he didn’t wake up right away fear gripped her. “Oliver,” She said louder cupping his cheeks in her hands as she got onto her knees beside him. “Come back to me…I’m right here.” She said, her eyes growing slightly glassy at the pain that was almost tangible on his face.

“Chloe,” Oliver muttered. The darkness and the water around him were disappearing fast and he heard her voice calling his name. He felt her hands on him and suddenly he shot up, eyes wide as he gasped for breath. “Chloe?” It took him a few seconds to realize he was in his bed and once he did, Oliver turned quickly, his eyes falling on Chloe as she sat on her knees beside him.

“Chloe.” He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her tightly against his chest as he desperately tried to catch his breath. Oliver buried his face in her neck, breathing in the scent of her skin and reassuring himself that she was all right. She wasn’t in the water; she was in his arms and everything was fine.

Chloe swallowed hard as she rubbed her hand up and down his back soothingly as the other one slipped into his hair massaging his scalp lightly. She could practically feel the tension mixed with relief coming off him in waves. She wasn’t sure what to do and anxiety filled her chest as she held him close to her whispering words of comfort near his ear. “Are you okay?” She asked lightly before pulling back and gripping his cheeks, turning his head up. “What’s wrong Ollie?”

“You were in the water and I couldn’t get to you.” Panic welled in his chest as Oliver’s mind slipped back into the nightmare. He could practically feel the waves soaking him as he searched for her and kept coming up with nothing. His breathing picked up speed once again as he the image of her going over the side of the boat flashed in his mind. He’d tried so hard to get to her and she’d been lost. It wasn’t like the night he remembered. He hadn’t tried at all that night even though it would have been easy to make the rescue.

Oliver swallowed hard as the reality started to mix in with his nightmare and he tried to push all of it out of his head and focus on Chloe. She looked scared. “I’m okay,” he told her. Oliver caressed her cheek, needing to feel her warm skin beneath his fingers and now that she was there with him. “I’m okay as long as you’re okay, Chloe.”

She nodded. “I’m right here,” She whispered still running her hands up and down his back trying to figure out what she could do to make it better. He looked slightly pale and the sweat on his brow was visible. She was pretty sure she’d never seen Oliver so shaken. “Is there anything I can do? Do you need anything? Water? A scotch? Anything...I’m here” She said again softly as she pressed a light kiss to his cheek as she shifted slightly closer, still on her knees.

“No, don’t leave,” Oliver said quickly. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her flush against him. Closing his eyes, he dropped his head to her shoulder but images from the nightmare flashed behind his eyelids. He opened them quickly and focused on the wall across the room. Chloe was safe. It had been a nightmare.

Oliver repeated the mantra in his head as he willed himself to calm down. He knew he was upsetting her and he had to stop. But he couldn’t stop seeing her disappearing into the storm-ridden water. His grip tightened around her. “I’m sorry I woke you up,” he said. 

His eyes drifted to the clock on the nightstand. It was just after two in the morning. He’d come back from patrol a little after one and she’d been awake and waiting for him so neither of them had been sleeping very long when the nightmare started. Oliver turned his head and pressed a kiss to her neck. “I’m sorry,” he said again.

“Ollie stop apologizing,” She said, slightly confused as she calmed herself down. She could see how much whatever he’d been dreaming about was bothering him and she just wished there was something she could do to make him feel better. “I don’t care about you waking me up, all I care about is you,” She told him softly while rubbing his back again. “What can I do to make it better Ollie? Talk to me.” She said quietly.

“It was just a nightmare,” Oliver said. He raised his head and pulled back from her just enough to see her face. “I just need a few minutes to get it out of my head.” He brushed his knuckles over her cheek, wishing he could take away the worry he saw in her eyes. “I’m sorry I scared you.” The images from the nightmare were slowly starting to fade but the ones from his memory seemed fresher than ever.

He did his best to push them aside as he tucked some of Chloe’s hair behind her ear. All of that stuff had happened a long time ago and he knew the only reason he was dwelling on it was because of Samantha Spencer’s murder. Chloe hadn’t found any leads or any similar crimes in the last few months. Oliver wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. Either way, he knew they needed to solve this crime fast so he could put this behind him again.

Chloe nodded and pressed a kiss to his hand. “Please stop apologizing. It’s okay. Nightmares happen…we all have them,” She pointed out before hesitating slightly. “Do you want to talk about it?” She asked, “Or I could go get that water…Or stay here,” Her voice trailed off and she gave him half a smile while her hand rubbed his arm. “Now I’m sorry, I just want to help. I hate seeing you upset,” She told him softly as she brushed a thumb over his cheek.

“You are helping,” Oliver assured her. He pressed a light kiss to her lips. “I don’t want to talk about it anymore,” he said. Oliver didn’t want to tell her the details. It was too close to what had actually happened that night and he was afraid if he started talking, the entire story would pour out of him and he couldn’t let that happen. He didn’t want Chloe looking at him differently.

If she knew what he had done, or what he hadn’t done, Oliver knew her opinion of him would change. How could it not? He had made a choice and it had seemed right at the time but the guilt never went away. He didn’t want Chloe to know that part of him. It was ugly and soulless and he needed to keep it buried in the past.

“Why don’t you turn out the light and try going back to sleep?” Oliver suggested. He didn’t want her to stay awake and worry about him. Oliver didn’t think he was going to be sleeping anytime soon, but he’d be fine as long as he knew that she was there beside him and he could see with his own eyes that she was safe.

Chloe frowned at his choice of words. “What about you?” She asked quickly, “Are you leaving? I’m not really that tired,” She said as she reached for him. “Do you want to maybe go for a walk?” She asked quietly while arching an eyebrow, “Maybe clean out the cobwebs?” She asked while taking his hand in hers.

“No, it’s not safe out there,” Oliver replied quickly. Samantha Spencer’s killer was still out there and he was not about to risk Chloe crossing his path. It didn’t matter if he was with her or not. Oliver had proven in the past just how little he could protect the people around him. He wasn’t taking any risks with Chloe’s life. “We should stay here,” he said. “It’s late and you’ll be tired again once you stop worrying about me. I’m fine,” he added.

Chloe frowned as she watched him for a minute. She was quiet while studying his face. Something more was going on here, but she didn’t want to push him. There was no way she was going to be able to get back to sleep at the moment though; there was too much going through her head. “Okay, well since I’m not actually going anywhere tomorrow I think I’ll be fine.” She said slowly. “If you’re feeling a little better I think I’m going to go downstairs and make a cup of coffee.” She told him with a small smile. If she was up she might as well do some work maybe attempt to find out a little bit more about that murder from earlier.  “Are you sure you don’t want anything?”

“Please don’t leave,” Oliver said. His hated the desperation he heard in his own voice and he knew he was being ridiculous. He woke her up and now she wanted to go downstairs and make coffee. She would be perfectly safe in the kitchen. Oliver needed to keep reminding himself that she wasn’t in any danger. The whole thing had been a nightmare. “I’m sorry.” He forced himself to let go of her.

The tone of his voice made her swallow hard. She gave him a hesitant smile. “Stop apologizing. I already told you Ollie, its fine,” She said softly. “You know, it’s sort of chilly in here, would you mind keeping me warm Hero?” She said the words casually as she ran her hand lightly down his chest. Obviously whatever his nightmare had been about had scared him, more than she’d ever seen before and if he wanted her by his side, that’s where she’d be.

Oliver smiled. He knew what she was doing, but he didn’t care. All he wanted was to hold her and know that she was safe. “I suppose I can help you out with that, Sidekick,” he teased. Oliver lay back against the pillows and pulled Chloe down with him, wrapping his arms tightly around her as she rested her head on his chest. He took her hand and brought it to his lips.

“I love you so much, Chloe. I don’t know what I would do without you,” he said quietly. The image of her falling into the water flashed before his eyes again and Oliver struggled to stay calm. Nothing was going to happen to Chloe. He would make sure of it.

Her frown deepened as she pressed a kiss to his chest and tightened her hold on him. “I love you too Ollie and I’m not going anywhere…I promise.” She told him as she draped her body over his.


	5. Chapter 5

Tess greeted Oliver’s assistant with a smile as she walked into the waiting area outside of his office. “Hi, Mary. Is Oliver free?” she asked. Tess had been trying to get away from her desk all morning to talk to him but the phone had been nonstop. There were a few problems at Luthor Corp. and she wanted to get Oliver’s opinion on the solutions she’d come up with.

Mary nodded. “You can go in, Ms. Mercer. Mr. Queen doesn’t have any meetings scheduled until later this afternoon,” she said.

“Thank you,” Tess replied. She knew there was no point in telling the older woman she could call her Tess. She had been asking her to do so for years and Mary just smiled and continued to refer to her as Ms. Mercer. Tess knocked on Oliver’s door and let herself into the office without waiting for an answer. She was surprised to see him sitting on the small couch instead of behind his desk. There was a package open on the table in front of him and he was just staring at it. “Oliver?” she called uncertainly when he didn’t seem to notice she’d entered the room.

Oliver looked up, blinking in surprise to see Tess standing in front of him. “Hey Tess, did you need something?” he asked. He tried for a smile, but he couldn’t quite pull it off as his eyes drifted to the package that was spread out in front of him. Mary had brought it in awhile ago and when he’d opened the box, he’d thought it had to be someone’s idea of a sick joke. But then he’d remembered the anchor pin that Chloe had given him at the event the other night and he’d sat down on the couch to try and figure out what the hell was going on. So far he hadn’t come up with anything.

“I wanted to talk to you about something but it can wait,” Tess replied. She moved around the table and sat down beside him on the couch. She could see that something was very wrong. She’d been worried about Oliver ever since Hal had sent her that email three days ago, but she hadn’t had a chance to talk to him when they weren’t surrounded by other people.

He’d seemed fine, tired and a little short tempered, but neither one of those things were unusual for Oliver. Tess looked at the package that was open on the table. In the middle of the box, there was a ceramic boat. She frowned as she took a closer look at the writing on the side. “Is that…?” Tess shifted her gaze to Oliver.

He nodded. “It’s a small scale model of Desmond’s boat. The Marina,” Oliver added, motioning to the tiny gold writing. “He thought he was being ironic naming it after the dock. He was a crazy son-of-a-bitch,” he muttered.

“I remember,” Tess replied quietly. She couldn’t help the shudder that went down her spine as she stared at the tiny boat. “Oliver, who sent that to you?” she asked.

Oliver shrugged. “I don’t know. There was no card and Mary said someone from the mailroom brought it up. She’s got them working on tracing the packaging but you know how many deliveries we get here each day.” He rubbed his hands over his face and wished he could wake up from this like it was just another nightmare. But it was all too real. “Samantha Spencer was murdered and a few days later someone sends me a ceramic boat. That’s not a coincidence, Tess. Neither was the little anchor pin someone sent me the night of the charity event.” He pointed to the pin that was sitting on the corner of the table. Oliver had retrieved it from his jacket pocket after he’d realized that someone was screwing with him. “There has to be another victim out there,” he said.

“You don’t know that,” Tess said quickly. But she saw the logic. Someone had sent him the pin the night Samantha was murdered and now there was a ceramic boat sitting on the table. Chances were there was another victim. “Oliver, this has to be a copycat. Someone who knew about Desmond’s crimes and his connection to you,” she said. “Maybe we should call the police.”

“Are you serious?” Oliver asked. He agreed that it had to be a copycat because he remembered what had happened to Desmond. But this wasn’t something they could go to the police with; not after what he’d done. “How would I explain that?”

“You wouldn’t,” Tess replied simply. “But someone is clearly stalking you and Green Arrow or not, you need to take this threat seriously.” She knew that Oliver had a tendency to ignore his own well-being. Hal did the same thing when she wasn’t kicking his ass and reminding him that he had people who cared about him in his life. She would do the same for Oliver if she needed to. “What about Chloe?” she asked.

Oliver shook his head. “Chloe can’t know about this,” he said firmly. “I don’t want her to know what I did back then or what I let myself become. Please Tess,” he urged. Oliver knew Tess and Chloe were friends and she wouldn’t want to keep the truth from her. But it wasn’t like he relished the idea of keeping a secret from the woman he loved. He just couldn’t handle the thought of her finding out what a despicable person he had been. Chloe knew about the stuff the tabloids had printed and she knew that a good portion of it was based in fact. Oliver knew she accepted that part of him but he couldn’t tell her about this.

Tess sighed. “Oliver, Chloe loves you. She’s not going to judge you anymore than Hal or I did. No one other than you blames you for what happened that night with Desmond. But we’re not just going to stand by and watch you go down that path again either. It starts with secrets, Oliver. You kept secrets from me and you kept them from Hal. I don’t want you to make that mistake with Chloe.”

“This is my decision, Tess,” Oliver said. His jaw clenched as he pushed himself off the couch and started to pace the office. “Chloe is working on the investigation into Samantha’s murder and I’ll tell her about any new clues I come across. But this isn’t about the past. Desmond is dead. Someone is just attempting to pick up where he left off and we need to put a stop to it. End of story,” he said.

“It’s not just your decision. She’s your girlfriend but she’s my friend. Am I just supposed to lie to her?” Tess asked. She wasn’t going to do that. Oliver was her best friend and she loved him but Tess was not going to stand by and watch him destroy himself. She’d done it once and she would never do it again. He was his own worst enemy especially when he started drinking. She glanced around the office and spotted a half-empty bottle of scotch sitting on his desk. “It’s ten-thirty in the morning, Oliver,” she said.

He followed her gaze and scowled when he saw the bottle he’d forgotten to put back in the drawer. “Excuse me for having a drink when someone sends me a ceramic reminder of the night I became the bad guy,” Oliver snapped. He glared at Tess when she continued to look at him like he was disappointing her. He’d seen that look in her eyes before and guilt churned in his stomach. Tess was his friend and he’d managed to disappoint her over and over again. He loved Chloe with all his heart and he couldn’t bear it if she looked at him the way Tess was looking at him. “Please Tess,” he said again. “I need you to do this for me. I’ve never asked you for anything, but I’m asking you for this. Please.”

The pleading in his voice tugged on her emotions and she hated him a little for playing that card with her. “I won’t say anything, but I think you should.” Tess got to her feet and snatched the bottle from his desk. “Next time you feel the need to take a drink, I want you to come talk to me instead. Or better yet, go home and talk to Chloe.” She marched out of the office, slamming the door closed behind her.

Oliver sighed. Tess was pissed at him and he supposed he couldn’t blame her. She’d suffered that night too. It had all been way too close. He moved back to the couch and picked up the ceramic boat. The replica was a perfect miniature of the real thing. But when he looked at the boat, Oliver didn’t see Tess or Hal or even himself. He saw Chloe and the images from his nightmare where Desmond had thrown her into the water.

That was all he needed to know that he was making the right choice. Oliver had to keep Chloe safe and that meant he had to keep her as far away from all of this as possible. He put the boat and the pin inside the box and shoved it in the back of the small closet in the front of his office. Then he crossed the room back to his desk and pulled out another bottle of scotch, uncapped it and took a long drink.

 

______

 

Hal stood in the elevator staring at the numbers as he pursed his lips. It was around two thirty and he'd gotten out of work early today after he'd spent the morning running drills.  After showering and getting dressed he figured since Tess still had to put in a few hours at the office he'd make his way to Star City and talk to Chloe. Hal knew he couldn't put it off much longer. It had already been close to seven days since the annual fundraiser, and if he waited much longer, his apology wouldn't really mean much, not that he was sure it meant anything now.

He hadn't exactly been Chloe's biggest fan in the beginning and he still wasn't, not really, but he knew how much his best friend loved her and he owed it to Oliver to try and make things right with her. He took a deep breath and pushed the button before entering the code to the penthouse. Hal slipped his hands into his pockets when the elevator started to move, his eyes taking in each number as it lit up while he waited. 

Chloe stood in the kitchen her hand rubbing her neck lightly as she rested her back against the kitchen island, her eyes never leaving the coffee maker in front of her. She rolled her head back and forth trying to stretch the muscles there. She'd been up since four that morning and she was exhausted. Things around the apartment had been weird for the past few days ever since Oliver had that nightmare.

No matter how much she asked about it, he was say he was fine and nothing was wrong and she wasn't sure what bothered her more. The fact that he was lying to her or the fact that she wasn't calling him on his bullshit. Chloe just didn't understand what could upset him so much that he wouldn't want to tell her. Oliver was the one who was always going on about honesty. She didn't think there was anything he didn't tell her about, so why hide this?

And if that wasn't enough he'd been saying the oddest things lately and getting anxious every time she wanted to do something on her own. She knew Oliver worried, but this was a new level of worry. He tried to play it off like it was nothing, but she wasn't buying it. Chloe shook herself out of her thoughts and refocused her attention on the coffee maker. She was in the process of going over the most recent headlines for the last two days and she had to take a break to refill her coffee mug.

She was just about to move forward to check if it was done when she heard the sound of the elevator chime. Chloe frowned and turned stepping away from the counter and moving towards the hallway to see who was there. "Ollie?"  She called out lightly a hint of confusion in her voice. She wasn't expecting him home so soon.

Hal stepped off the elevator and cleared his throat. "Uh, no it's Hal...can I come in?" He asked while pausing in the in the hallway. 

Chloe stopped in her tracks startled by the fact that Hal was there. She hadn't seen him since the fundraiser and she wasn't quite sure what t expect. She pursed her lips and gave him a tight smile. "Sure...Oliver isn't here though, I mean if you're looking for him." She told him quietly.

Hal scratched the back of his neck and shook his head as he followed Chloe back into the kitchen. "Believe it or not, I'm actually not here to see him. I came because I was hoping we could talk," He said lightly. Admitting he was wrong and apologize wasn’t exactly something he was comfortable doing, but he knew he owed her at least that much.

Chloe moved around the kitchen, walked over to the refrigerator and pulled it open before grabbing the milk and a bottle of water. She turned towards Hal and held out the bottle of water to him. She was weary of whatever it was he wanted to so. Chloe knew he didn't like her, but she also knew he was at least attempting to get along better with her or at least he had been until the fundraiser. "What's on your mind?" She asked while leaning against the counter and watching him.

Hal swallowed heavily and pursed his lips as he took the water from her and nodded his thanks. He glanced up and caught her eyes. "Look I'm not going to beat around the bush and all that other shit," He told her quickly. "I was a jackass at the fundraiser." He told her while cocking his head to the side. "I was having a bad week, my night wasn't going great, and you freaking out the way you were even though you were trying to hide it...well it got on my last nerve. Plus the fact that I knew something was wrong with Tess, but didn't know what it was when you seemed like you knew...it upset me." He said quietly.

"I don't like being out of the loop, nobody does, but I was angry and you were there...I'm sorry. What I said, it wasn't right." he told her attempting to show her his apology was sincere. He knew there were a ton of things he should be apologizing for, but baby steps were better than no steps at all.

Chloe opened and closed her mouth. That was the last thing she had expected to hear from Hal's mouth. Him admitting he was wrong, that just wasn't like him, not that she was complaining. She knew how important it was to Oliver that they got along and now that she was getting closer to Tess it only made sense they mend some bridges. She gave him half a smile. "I appreciate that," She said before hesitating and taking a step forward so she was right across from him.

"I know you don't like me," She saw him open his mouth and she held up a hand. "I get it. I honestly understand why. I still feel guilty about how things played out in Metropolis. No matter what Oliver or Tess say I don't think it's something I'll ever forgive myself for," She told him before pausing to gather her thoughts. "If I were in your shoes I'd be upset too, but I'm trying." She told him quietly.

"I know you think the press thing is stupid, and maybe I am over reacting. But it's difficult for me and I don't expect you to understand that. I also don't expect you to forgive me over night, but it's been months...How long are we going to do this? Because I'm not going anywhere and I hate that our fighting always puts Oliver in the middle. I don't want to be that person. I don't want to be what comes between you guys." She said while glancing down and trying to keep her emotions in check.

It had been a long few days and she was running on very little sleep, along with her worry for Oliver, which was making her extremely edgy.

Hal took a minute to let her words digest and he was surprised by how honest she was beginning. Then again he guessed she didn't think she had much to lose. He leaned back in his seat fiddling with the water bottle in his hands as he watched her. It was true she wasn't his favorite person, but there were people he liked less. He knew Oliver was stressed and the fact that he hadn't talked to him in a few days was what actually prompted him to stop by in the first place.

Oliver hadn't returned any of his calls or messages and he hadn't been picking up his cell phone. Hal didn't want to add to his friends stress by disliking his girlfriend. He shook his head and cleared his throat before his eyes settled on the woman in front of him. "I don't want that either. I can't promise that I'm going to be your best friend...or that we'll get along with everything from here on out, but I will do my best to stop being such an ass." He said while giving her half a smile.

It was the least he could do, plus if he started hanging around more than maybe he could figure out what was up with his best friend.

Chloe returned the smile. "I can get on board with that," She paused for a second and glanced at him while motioning towards the coffee maker. "I was just taking a break from researching to grab some more coffee...Are you hungry or anything?" She asked hesitantly not sure if he had just come by to say his piece or if he wanted something else.

Hal glanced towards the coffeemaker and then back at Chloe before shaking his head. "No thanks. I was actually just stopping off here on my way to see Tess. She's been busy and I wanted to bring her lunch so I should probably head out..." He let his voice trail off as he scratched the back of his neck feeling slightly out of place now that their conversation was over. 

Chloe nodded. "Yeah, no of course. Tell Tess I said hi will you?" She asked. 

Hal pushed himself up and nodded. "Yeah, I'll let her know." He turned and Chloe watched as he started to make his way down the hallway. 

She bit her lower lip and paused before calling out to him. "Hal." 

He stopped and glanced over his shoulder at her while arching an eyebrow. "Yeah?"

Chloe paused and swallowed hard. "This might sound weird but, have you noticed anything strange about Oliver lately?" She asked trying to keep the worry out of her voice.

Hal pursed his lips. "Actually I haven't talked to Oliver lately he's been busy at work...is everything okay with him?" He studied her face closely catching the hint of worry there but he said nothing. Instead he waited for her to answer his question.

She nodded. "Yeah, everything is fine. I was just wondering. Have a good afternoon and thanks you know for stopping by and apologizing." She said in a light voice. 

He nodded, "Sure thing," He said.  Chloe watched him disappear down the hallway and towards the elevator a frown on her face. Somehow his words had not eased her worry one bit.

 

______

 

Tess hung up the phone, barely resisting the urge to slam it repeatedly against the desk. She’d spent the past hour arguing with the marketing department about an upcoming project. No matter how many times Tess had told the manager that she wanted it one way, the manager had countered with a different idea. Tess was all for communication and listening to new ideas, but she felt like she’d been beating her head against a brick wall. She’d finally reminded him that she was the boss and he’d backed down and agreed to do what she wanted, but she could practically hear him calling her names in his head over the phone. Tess didn’t really care as long as he listened to what she wanted in the end.  
      
Sighing, Tess turned in her chair to face her computer and caught sight of the bottle of scotch she’d taken from Oliver sitting on her desk. Tess chewed on the inside of her cheek, fresh concern washing over her. If she was being honest with herself, her conversation with Oliver was the real reason she was so angry. He was making a mistake by not telling Chloe the truth. She understood that he was scared but Tess knew how much Chloe loved him. She wouldn’t turn her back on him and maybe she’d finally be the one to convince him that what happened wasn’t his fault. Desmond was insane and he would have gladly killed all of them if he’d been given the chance. 

Her mind flashed back to the night he’d grabbed her. One minute she’d been waiting for Hal outside the airfield and the next she’d woken up bound and gagged in the cabin of a boat. Tess shook her head to clear her thoughts and tried to focus her attention on the computer. She took a deep breath and a few minutes later she was so involved in the email she was writing that she didn’t hear the sound of her office door opening.

Hal arched an eyebrow when Tess didn’t even glance up as he opened the door. He closed it lightly and made his way towards her desk, plastic bag in hand. After leaving the penthouse he had picked up a couple of sandwiches for them before making his way to her office. He dropped the bag gently on her desk and grinned when he saw her startled face. “Heya Red, how’s it going?” He asked as he leaned forward and brushed a kiss against her lips.

As he pulled back his eyes caught sight of the bottle of scotch and he arched an eyebrow. “Uh…rough morning?” He asked as he pointed to the bottle on her desk.

“Yes, but not for me,” Tess replied warily. She skipped over the pleasantries and ignored the fact that her heart was pounding because he’d scared the hell out of her when he’d walked into her office. Her thoughts were still mixed up in that awful night. But Tess was glad Hal was there because she needed someone to back her up and tell Oliver that he was wrong. “I took that away from Oliver. Someone is screwing with his head, Hal and instead of doing something about it he’s keeping it bottled inside. No pun intended,” she added, making it clear she was not in the mood for any kind of jokes.

Tess filled Hal in on the pin he had received the night of the charity event and then she told him about the ceramic replica of Desmond’s boat that was currently sitting in his office. “I found him just staring at it with that look on his face. I tried to talk to him and he shut me down but he’s not okay,” she said.

Hal sighed as he dropped down into the chair in front of her desk. He knew something wasn’t right and apparently he was right. “Well my conversation with Chloe makes a little more sense now,” He said while rubbing the back of his neck. “Do we have any idea who’s doing this?” He asked as his eyes fell to the bottle, his mind drifting back to images of Oliver stumbling around and falling on his face. Hal shook his head and focused his attention on Tess.

“Oliver doesn’t seem to have a clue or if he does he can’t see past his guilt enough to focus on it. I think…” Tess paused when Hal’s words registered in her head. “Did you say you had a conversation with Chloe? What happened?” she asked. Hal had admitted to her that he’d been out of line with Chloe at the charity event and he’d promised to apologize. Tess knew that he would next time they saw each other, but she hadn’t expected it to happen without her being there. She had to assume Hal had sought Chloe out because she didn’t think Chloe would go to him for any reason after the way he’d treated her.

Hal shrugged. “Nothing…I stopped by the penthouse on the way here to apologize. She seemed worried.” He told her while shifting on the chair. “Apparently Oliver’s not so great at hiding whatever’s going on,” He told her before shaking his head. “Things are fine now though with me and Chloe…or as fine as they ever were.” He said with half a smile. “And at least you got the alcohol away from Oliver…should we call this a win for both of us?” He asked lightly.

“No,” Tess replied. “I told Oliver that he needs to talk to Chloe about what’s going on and he flat out refused and then he laid a guilt trip on me until I agreed not to say anything to her. You need to talk to him. If Chloe already knows something is up, it’s only going to be worse if he keeps the truth from her. Maybe he’ll listen to you.” Someone needed to get through to Oliver because Tess was not okay with just standing around and waiting for something to happen. They needed to work together to find out who was behind this and Oliver needed Chloe whether he wanted to admit it or not.

Hal hesitated. He wasn’t sure that was the best idea. What Oliver had gone through, well it was rough and it had taken them a long time to get him back on track. If he said he didn’t want to tell her than Hal respected that. He watched Tess for a minute before shifting in his seat. “He obviously doesn’t want to talk to me right now, but as far as the whole Chloe thing goes, maybe we should just leave it alone.” He told her quietly. “We’ll do what we can to keep him from slipping, but Chloe’s his girlfriend and this isn’t our story to tell.”

“He’s already slipping,” Tess countered. She knew Hal didn’t like to push Oliver because he didn’t like when people pushed him, but Tess thought he needed to make an exception in this case. “Hal, he was drinking before ten in the morning.” She gestured to the half-empty bottle. “He’s hiding things from Chloe. You know how Oliver is about being honest with people he loves. The only time he lies is when he’s on one of his spirals.” She pursed her lips as memories of the last one flashed through her head. There had been more than one occasion where she’d been worried he wouldn’t make it to the next day. “I don’t want to watch him fall apart again, Hal. If he won’t listen to us, he’ll listen to Chloe.”

Hal shook his head. He understood what Tess was saying, but Oliver had come a long way since then and he wasn’t the same person. “Tess, if Oliver asked you not to say anything then you need to respect that. Right now if you butt in and tell Chloe everything or anything he’s only going to get angry and then he won’t let us in and we’ll really be screwed.” He told her. Hal wasn’t naïve he knew how Oliver could get, but he was confident that he and Tess would be able to keep him under control and help him get past this.

“Chloe isn’t a part of this and obviously despite how much he cares about her he doesn’t want her to be a part of it…so let’s just give him this…okay?” He asked her while reaching out and cupping her cheek.

Sighing, Tess leaned into his touch as she tried to let go of some of the tension she was carrying. She still didn’t think this was the right decision, but she knew it wasn’t her decision. Hal wouldn’t want Oliver to get hurt anymore than she did so maybe she was overreacting. Oliver drinking in the middle of the morning was bad, but it wasn’t the end of the world. He was stressed and he hadn’t fought her when she took the bottle away. She met Hal’s eyes and nodded.  
  
“I won’t say anything to Chloe. But I think we need to get more involved in this case. Neither of us really believed Samantha Spencer’s death was a coincidence in the first place and now we know it’s not. Oliver isn’t going to give Chloe anything to go on so I’ll see what I can dig up,” Tess said.

Hal nodded and squeezed her hand before placing a quick kiss on her lips. “Thank you,” He said and reached for the bag of sandwiches. He held up the bag. “Enough about Oliver now, I brought you some food...Any chance you want to have lunch with your soon to be husband?” He asked with a cheeky grin as he sent a wink her way.

Tess smiled. “How can I say no to that?” she teased. Tess tried to set aside the bad feeling that was gnawing in the pit of her stomach. Hal was right. They would keep Oliver from going over the edge and they would find out who had killed Samantha Spencer. She was going to speak to the person in charge of the mailroom and make sure no more packages got through to Oliver without her seeing them first. It was at least one thing she would be able to control.  
  
She saw that Hal was still watching her and she pushed all thoughts of killers aside and focused on him. Things had been good lately and she wanted to keep it that way especially if his nightly job was about to pick up.

 

______

 

Oliver leaned back against the wall as the elevator ascended to the penthouse. After his argument with Tess, he’d drank another few glasses of scotch and then he’d fallen asleep on the couch in his office. His assistant woke him up a few hours later when it was time for the meeting he’d forgotten about. Oliver had seen the familiar concern in her eyes at his condition and he’d asked her to reschedule.

He’d spent the next hour in the shower in his private bathroom trying to sober himself up. He felt like he’d been run over by a truck but the aspirin and two liters of water he’d poured down his throat finally did the trick enough for him to be able to drive himself home. His head hurt and he just wanted to crawl into bed and go to sleep but he knew he would scare Chloe if he did that.

Tess’s words came back to him and for a brief moment, he wondered if maybe she was right. Maybe it would be better for him to just tell Chloe everything. Maybe she would understand why he’d done what he’d done. Or maybe she would be on the next plane back to Metropolis so fast that his head would spin. Oliver sighed. He couldn’t risk that. He would figure this out on his own and Chloe would never have to know the kind of person he’d been. She’d never have to look at him with shame and disappointment in her eyes like so many other people in his life had in the past.  
  
He straightened up as the doors opened, running a hand through his hair and taking a deep breath. “Chloe, I’m home,” he called as he crossed the threshold into the apartment and shrugged off his jacket.

Chloe glanced towards the office door when she heard Oliver’s voice. Not long after her talk with Hal, the search on her computer had sent her an alert letting her know that a similar article had been found in the system. When she had checked out the bulletin it turned out that a body had washed ashore that morning and they were still in the process of identifying the who and how, but Chloe had alerts on everything so as soon as the police knew something she would to.

She grabbed the papers she’d printed out with a photo of the body along with some of the crime scene photos and the reports from the onsite officers before moving out of the office and making her way down the hall. Chloe smiled when she saw Oliver. “Hey,” She said lightly as she leaned up on her toes and pressed a kiss to his lips. “How was your day?” She asked while running her empty hand down his arm.

“Long,” Oliver replied. He figured that was the best word to honestly describe his day. It had felt like ten rolled into one. He leaned down and kissed her again. “But it’s pretty good now,” he whispered against her lips between kisses. “How was your day?” he asked as he wrapped his arm around her waist, letting his hand slide underneath her shirt to rub her lower back. Oliver wanted to put everything else out of his mind and just focus on Chloe for a few hours before it was time to go out and patrol. He knew he’d been avoiding her lately because he didn’t want to talk about the case or his nightmare and he realized now just how much he’d been missing her.

Chloe's brows furrowed as she studied his face. Something didn't feel right then again she shouldn't be surprised since she'd been getting a strange vibe from him for the past few days. But at least he wasn't running off to go patrolling or saying he had calls to make and work to do. She felt like she hadn't seen much of him these past few days and aside from being worried, she missed him.  
  
Her days were uneventful enough spending her time cooped up in the apartment waiting for him to come home, she didn't need him avoiding. Her once he finally got there. "My day was surprisingly productive." She told him with a small smile as she rested her hand against his stomach.  
  
"Hal stopped by earlier today. He apologized for the things he said and I think things are finally going to be okay from now on." She said with a small smile before remembering the papers in her other hand. Chloe's face sobered slightly as she held up the hand with the papers. "And I found this," she said softly.

“I’m glad Hal finally got his head out of his ass and apologized,” Oliver said. He hadn’t spoken to his friend for a few days, mainly because he ignored him every time he saw his number on the caller ID, but Oliver was happy to hear that he was making an effort with Chloe. Things were hard enough lately without having to worry that his best friend was going to insult his girlfriend every time he saw her. “Maybe next time the four of us go out things will be less weird now,” he commented.

His eyes drifted to the papers she held in her hand. “What are those?” he asked. Chloe had mentioned that she’d been productive. He wondered if she was working on a project with one of the guys. Oliver figured that was good for her. He knew she’d been bored lately and he wasn’t really helping things with his disappearing act.

"A new body washed up on shore this morning," she told him as she took a step out of his arms and held out the papers. "Ever since we found out about Samantha Spencer I've been running searches through the system and this popped up this morning." She said her brows furrowing.  
  
"I figured I'd look into it since I finished Helping Victor with that database project I was telling you about. There aren't many details yet, but when there are we'll know," she told him before running a hand through her hair. "I think I'm going to start cross referencing stuff as soon as we know who this victim is. Maybe look around there past and see if I can make any connections." She had been looking for something to work on and this seemed like the perfect thing to focus her energy on. Whatever was going on was bad news and she could definitely help find who was doing this.

Oliver didn’t say anything, but he took the papers from her as a familiar dread washed over him. He should have known better than to think he could just come home and spend a normal evening with his girlfriend. He didn’t have the kind of life that afforded him that luxury.

His stomach turned over as he looked at the pictures of the decomposed body and for a moment he worried that all the alcohol he’d consumed that morning was going to come back up. It wasn’t like he’d never seen dead bodies before; but when the images mixed with those from his nightmare, Oliver could barely stand to look at the picture.

But he knew he had to because whoever was doing this was sending a message to him. Oliver thought about the ceramic boat and the anchor pin that he’d shoved in his closet at work. He’d told Tess that there would be another victim and he’d been right. There was no way to identify the victim from the picture and he wondered how long it would take the police to get an ID.

He figured it depended on whether or not anyone had reported her missing yet. Oliver briefly went over the names of the original victims in his head and tried to figure out if this woman could be related to any of them. He knew Chloe would be able to trace that information quickly enough if he asked her to but that would mean telling her the whole truth and he couldn't do that.

“I guess we’ll know more once we get a name.” Oliver handed the papers back to Chloe and crossed the room to the wet bar. He needed to think and figure out what his next move was going to be. He poured himself a glass of scotch and took a long sip as he turned to the window and watched the sun going down in the distance. He would need to patrol as soon as the city was dark.

Chloe turned and watched him for several minutes as she pursed her lips. She took a couple of steps forward and placed the papers down on the small table. She studied his posture and the tension in his shoulders along with the rigid way he held himself told her something was wrong. Not that she couldn't already tell before that.  
  
She sat down and tried to read the expression on his face as he stared out the window, but she couldn't and that scared her. He was hiding something from her and she wanted to get mad and demand answers but Chloe wasn't sure that was the right way to handle this until she knew what was going on.  
  
Her chest tightened as she remember the fight they'd had in Metropolis when she didn't tell him she was breaking into the mansion with Lois and here he was essentially doing the same thing to her and she didn't know what to do about it. Chloe glanced at the glass in his hand. That was something that struck her as odd.   
  
He seemed to be drinking more than usual lately as a way to relax, which she supposed wasn't uncommon, but he must have been doing it enough lately that when he'd had that nightmare a few days ago in an attempt to calm him down she offered to get him a glass and that wasn't like her. She broke the silence in the room with an attempt at a joke. When in doubt Chloe's default go to was always humor.  
  
"How about some food to go with that Scotch," she joked as she continued to watch him. "Ollie, what's wrong?" She asked him quietly.

Oliver didn’t say anything for a moment. How was he supposed to tell her that this entire thing was his fault? Whoever was doing this had to have a connection to Desmond and Desmond was dead because of him. This person obviously knew that and that was why he or she was sending Oliver the boat memorabilia. He scowled as he thought about Desmond’s sick obsession with boats and how he’d always put some kind of nautical references in each of his projects. All of his formulas had been named after something that had to do with sailing. Oliver really should have seen it sooner. People warned him but it had already been too late at that point.

Now it was happening again but things were different this time. The person killing these women was going after them one at a time. That had never been Desmond’s style. He preferred mass casualties. Oliver recalled the moment he had given his big presentation and the look of pure glee on his face as he described what his poison could do.

Oliver and Tess had exchanged horrified looks as the rest of Desmond’s staff stood back like they were afraid of getting too close. He should have seen it sooner. Oliver knew he couldn’t make that mistake again.

He swallowed the rest of his drink and set the glass down on the bar before turning back to Chloe. Oliver could see the concern in her eyes and he knew that she was waiting for him to answer her question. “I don’t think you should look into this case anymore. I know you want to help but this isn’t really the kind of thing we handle. We should let the Star City police do their job for a change,” he said.

Chloe stared at him for a full minute without blinking bafflement filling her face. "Excuse me?" She said completely thrown by how that had even come up. "Not the kind of thing we handle? I didn't realize we discriminated against bad guys." She said her tone casual but her eyes bore into him watching every move he made.

"So tell me how it works then. Meta humans...people like Lex...muggers, bank robbers, oh but wait we draw the line at murderers?" She asked still staring at him like he had two heads. "And that was a nice attempt at deflecting my question, which if you haven't noticed I'm still waiting for an answer on." She told him while crossing her legs and leaning back on the couch.

Oliver should have known it wouldn’t be that easy to convince her to drop it. Chloe was too smart to buy the flimsy excuse he’d just tried to give her and she had a point. They couldn’t just ignore certain crimes and focus on other ones. It went against everything they stood for. He reached for his glass, remembered it was empty and poured himself another one.

“That’s not what I meant,” he said as he took a generous sip, letting the liquid burn his throat. He didn’t know what he was supposed to say to her. He didn’t want her involved in this case but if he told her that, she’d only ask why and he couldn’t give her the real reason.

“I’ll keep patrolling and Hal will do the same. I just don’t think you need to spend all your time looking into this when it’s probably just random murders,” Oliver said. He knew his words didn’t make much sense but he didn’t know what to do. He finished his second glass and reached for the bottle again. “I don’t want you involved in this,” he told her as he poured more liquid into his glass.

Chloe's eyes drifted to the alcohol in his hand and she pursed her lip ignoring his words. "You could probably get more if you drank it directly from the bottle," she said while pushing herself off the couch. "It's not like my time is spent doing much else," she told him before lifting the papers from the table.  
  
She watched him for another minute and she briefly wondered when it had become so easy for him to lie to her. And if he could stand there and lie to her face about this, what else was he lying to her about? Chloe could see something clouding over in his eyes, but she couldn't read it. He was hurting, but instead of telling her what was going on he was ignoring it.  
  
"You don't want me to look into it, fine," she told him before taking the papers, walking a few feet towards his desk and tossing them in the trash. "I'm going to go out for a bit. There's food in the fridge, I ordered Thai, you know in case you need something to soak up the alcohol." She said in a forcefully light voice while motioning to the glass in his hand as she moved towards the closet to grab her cardigan.  
  
She needed to get out and get some fresh air before she said something she regretted. She needed time to think and process Oliver's action from the last week so she could try and figure out what the hell was going on. And if he seriously thought she was going to stop looking into the murders then he didn't know her as well as she thought he did, which hurt on an entirely different level.

He stared after her for a moment, regret filling his chest as he watched her getting ready to walk away from him. Oliver knew what she wanted. She wanted him to tell her what was bothering him but he couldn’t do that. She’d agreed to stop looking into the murders and that was what he’d wanted. Oliver wasn’t sure why it didn’t make him feel any better though. He brought the newly-filled glass to his lips and swallowed it in one gulp. Walking away from him was probably the best thing Chloe could do, Oliver thought bitterly. It wasn’t like he could keep her safe or offer her any kind of comfort.

“Don’t wait up,” he called after her as he decided to take her advice. Oliver picked up the bottle of scotch and carried it with him as he made his way down the hall to his equipment room. He needed another drink to calm his nerves before he headed out to patrol.

She slipped her sweater on and caught sight of his back as he made his way down the hall in the opposite direction. Her heart clenched as she saw the bottle in his hand and anger filled her. "Don't worry, I wasn't planning on it!" she called out before grabbing her purse and slamming her hand so hard against the elevator button that it hurt.  
  
Chloe had no idea where she was going, but if she didn't get out of that apartment she was likely to take his bottle of scotch and hit him over the head with it until she knocked some damn sense into him. The door opened and she moved inside pressing the button for the lobby before resting her back against the railing as she tried to steady her rapidly beating heart.  
  
And as the doors slid shut she wrapped her arms around her body. Chloe was more determined than ever to find out what was going on with those murders. She had a feeling whatever was going on with Oliver was directly related these two incidents.

______

 

It was just after two a.m. when Oliver slipped back into the apartment through his equipment room. He’d patrolled for about two hours before he’d realized he was too drunk to hold his crossbow straight so he’d made his way to Queen Industries and took a seat on the roof overlooking the ocean. He’d watched the waves through his dark glasses while images from his nightmare taunted him along with those he had lived through.

Chloe’s angry words echoed in his head and he imagined the hurt look that he knows had been in her eyes even though he’d been too much of a coward to look at her. Part of him wished he’d brought the scotch with him and Oliver considered slipping down into his office and getting the bottle from his desk. Shame washed over him and he’d remained on the roof for hours until he’d sobered up enough to get himself home.

He stripped off his uniform and made his way down the hall, stepping into the guest bedroom. Oliver turned on the shower and let the hot water beat down on his tense muscles and his pounding head. He stayed in there until the water got cold and then he wrapped a towel around his waist and silently walked into the master bedroom. There was enough light slanting through the blinds for him to see Chloe curled up on her side of the bed. Her steady breathing indicated she was asleep, but he saw the way she kept restlessly shifting against the sheets. Oliver knew that was his fault.

“I’m sorry, Chloe,” Oliver whispered. He moved closer to the bed, but he was afraid to lie down beside her. He didn’t deserve to after the way he’d been behaving for the past few days. Oliver hated knowing that he’d hurt her even though he still thought he was doing the right thing. It might not seem like it now, but he knew it would be better in the long run if she didn’t know the truth. His chest tightened and once again he was nearly overwhelmed by the urge to throw up. He wasn’t going to psychoanalyze the reasons for that.

Oliver walked over to the chair in the corner of the room and took a seat; his eyes still on Chloe as she slept. He would find a way to fix this that didn’t involve drowning himself in the bottom of a bottle.


	6. Chapter 6

Chloe stood in the elevator, hands crossed over her chest, jaw clenched as she tapped her foot lightly. It was eight thirty in the morning and her day had already started off bad. After her argument with Oliver last night when he told her to stop looking into the Samantha Spencer’s murder, she'd woken up that morning alone, his side of the bed long since cold.  He must have left pretty damn early because she woke up at a quarter to eight and there was no sign that he'd even been there recently.

Chloe wasn't sure what was going on and sure she was angry, but more than that she was worried. This wasn’t like Oliver. There was a new distance between them ever since she showed him the article about the Spencer murder and since then he's been keeping something from her. She had tried to let it go at first, but she was tired of pretending everything was fine when it wasn't.

The nightmare, the fact that he was distracted all the time, then him telling her to stop working on finding out what was happening with these women She had no clue what was going on with him, but she was done pretending.

The elevator doors chimed and she stepped out onto the top floor of Queen Industries. Chloe tugged her purse up on her shoulder, keys in hand as she made her way down the hallway and towards Oliver's office. When she got there she spotted Mary outside his office and smiled lightly. "Good morning Mary, is he busy can I go in for a minute?" She asked trying to keep her voice even.

Mary watched the blonde closely before shaking her head. "He isn't here Miss Sullivan; Mr. Queen took the morning off." She told the other woman and caught the surprise that crossed her face.

Chloe frowned. She had tried Oliver's cell phone twice and he hadn't answered either time so she'd assumed he was in the office and maybe his phone wasn't in the immediate vicinity.  But now that she knew he wasn't there her anger was taking over the worry that she'd been feeling. Chloe pursed her lips and took a deep breath. "I see...Do you know where he is?" She asked her voice controlled.

Mary shook her head. "I'm sorry I can't help you." She said her tone clipped as she met blondes eyes.

Chloe's heart clenched and she wondered if Oliver had asked his assistant not to tell her where he was. Suddenly the worry and hurt were back. She swallowed heavily and straightened up slightly. "Fine." She said quickly before turning abruptly on her heel and heading in the opposite direction towards Tess's office. If Oliver was avoiding her or something else was wrong, Tess would know.

Tess was attempting to concentrate on checking her email, but she couldn’t seem to stop her mind from drifting to the night before. Hal had announced he was skipping patrol and she’d barely had time to ask if everything was all right before he’d managed to get her naked and seeing stars in the middle of the living room floor and that had just been the beginning. Neither one of them had gotten much sleep but it had been worth it. She bit the corner of her lip, trying not to moan as she thought about him touching her and kissing her and…

She was abruptly brought out of the thoughts by the sound of her intercom buzzing loudly. Tess’s cheeks flushed as she picked up the phone. Her eyebrows shot up a few seconds later when Stella informed her that Chloe was there and needed a few minutes of her time. Tess told her assistant to send Chloe in and then hold her calls for awhile. She knew there had to be a reason Chloe was dropping by unannounced early in the morning and Tess was guessing it was not going to be a happy visit. The door opened and the look on Chloe’s face confirmed her speculation.

“What’s wrong?” Tess asked.

Chloe walked into the room, shut the door behind her and sat down in one of the chairs in front of the other woman’s desk. She pursed her lips and contemplated going over the pleasantries, but honestly she wasn’t in the mood and since Tess was a woman after her own heart she knew the red head didn’t like beating around the bush.

Her body was rigid as she sat in the seat her hands gripping her purse tightly. “What’s wrong with him?” She asked her voice slightly more calm than one would expect from the look on her face. “And before you come up with any creative lies, I understand he’s your friend and you’ve known him longer than me. I respect that,” She said quietly. “But something is very wrong and someone is going to tell me what it is or so help me god I will take apart his entire database and hack into every system Queen Industries has until I find it…and don’t think I can’t do it.” She said as she met Tess’s eyes.

She wasn’t angry at the woman in front of her, but since she didn’t know where Oliver was she couldn’t exactly yell at him at the moment. Tess was her friend or at least she hoped she was. Chloe wasn’t stupid, she could tell that something was wrong, but she couldn’t help fix it until she knew what that something was. “He’s not sleeping.” She told her. “He’s drinking a lot and he’s lying to me…What is going on?”

“Did you two have a fight?” Tess asked. She knew Chloe would probably read her question as a stall tactic and maybe it was, but she also wanted to know. Tess hadn’t given much thought to Oliver after her talk with Hal and now she was wondering if that had been a mistake. She’d seen something in Oliver’s eyes; heard it in his voice. He wasn’t okay and he was clearly doing a terrible job of pretending otherwise or Chloe wouldn’t be sitting in her office right now looking like she was going to start screaming or crying any second.

“I’m tired of people answering my questions with their own question. Either you’re going to answer me or I’m going to continue digging into what Oliver asked me to stop looking into.” Chloe let out a bitter laugh. “Who am I kidding I’m already doing that now. I don’t take orders especially not from someone who claims to love me and then goes and lies to me.”

She leaned forward slightly and caught Tess’s gaze. “I know it has something to do with Samantha Spencer. He started acting weird right after that. And then when I told him about the second victim last night he got withdrawn. I know Oliver.” She told her.

“I’m not going to stop looking and without help it might take time, but I’ll figure out what’s going on sooner or later.”  She said as her heart clenched. She glanced down to pull herself together briefly before looking up and arching an eyebrow. “Are you going to answer my question?” She asked quietly. “Or am I going to go through some of Queen Industries restricted files to find my answers?” Her voice was tired when she spoke. She was tired. Chloe hadn’t slept well in days and she was furious at Oliver, but she was also worried.

Tess was taken aback by Chloe’s burst of anger. She wasn’t surprised that Chloe was already halfway to figuring out exactly what was going on. Oliver might be able to fool the media and the business people he sat down with every day, but he was an open book to the people who really knew him and Chloe was one of those people. Tess was fairly certain Chloe probably knew Oliver better than anyone and he had obviously failed to take that into account when he’d decided that he could handle this whole thing on his own. 

She held up her hand. “Chloe, you need to calm down. I can tell you that searching through Queen Industries will not help you figure out what’s going on with Oliver.” Tess hesitated. She’d promised Oliver and Hal that she wouldn’t say anything to Chloe but that was before the woman had stormed into her office and pleaded with her in between her threats. Tess knew there was no point in trying to steer her in a different direction and she wasn’t about to insult her intelligence by telling her that she was imagining things.  

“I’m going to answer your question, but I need you to answer mine first. It’s important,” Tess insisted when Chloe looked like she was going to protest. “First, is Oliver here?” Tess hadn’t bothered to check since they didn’t have any meetings to prepare for that day. “Second, did you have a fight?” she asked again. “If you did, I need you to tell me what happened.” If Tess was going to betray her best friend and her fiancé in one swoop, she needed to know how much damage Oliver had already done to his relationship with Chloe.

“I don’t know where Oliver is.” She said before swallowing heavily. “I woke up and he wasn’t there. I called he doesn’t answer.” She said as anxiety built in her stomach. “He came home last night, I told him there was another victim, and he told me to stop looking into the murders. He said to let the police handle it.” She recounted before pausing for a minute to keep her composure. “I told him we don’t just pick and choose the things we look into. He drank more.” She told her as her chest tightened.

“Long story short I needed to get out of the house for a while so I left after that. When I got back to the penthouse he was on patrol, not that he did much there either. I did a little more research into both murders, erased the history off the sever and went to bed before he got home.” She said as she crossed her arms over her chest. “I want to know what’s going on Tess. I’ve been patient…I’ve been playing along with his little I’m fine game for over a week. I’m done doing that. If you know something, and I know you do…you have to tell me.” She pleaded.

Damnit, Oliver, Tess thought. He was screwing himself over by not telling Chloe the truth. Despite the obvious anger and frustration in the other woman’s face, Tess could see that she was more worried about Oliver than anything else. Tess was too and that was why she was not going to feel guilty for what she was about to do. She didn’t care if Oliver was angry with her. She’d rather he be angry than lying in a gutter somewhere or worse. Her stomach clenched at that. She wasn’t going to let him get to that point again.

“You’re right, Chloe. The way Oliver is acting ties back to Samantha Spencer’s murder but it goes back even further than that. Her husband, Nicholas Spencer used to work here. He worked here until he was murdered.” Tess said. It might not be her place to tell Chloe the entire story, but she could give her the highlights and let Chloe put the pieces together.

“Four other employees died the same day as Nicholas Spencer in one of our offsite labs. It’s since been shut down but it was in the town between Star City and Coast City. Shorewood,” she told her. “I’m sure you can find some information about that day.” Tess gave her a pointed look, hoping that Chloe would understand that she was in a bad position. As much as she wanted to just tell her everything, she couldn’t.

Chloe’s face held a hint a relief as she glanced at Tess. “I’m sure I can.” She told her quietly, and she sure as hell was going to as soon as she left the office. She hesitated before meeting Tess’s eyes. “Thank you,” She said softly. Chloe sat there for a minute digesting everything before pushing herself out of the chair and biting her lower lip. “I’m sorry I was sharp with you…and for barging in unannounced.”

“Don’t be sorry,” Tess said. She leaned forward, folding her hands in front of her on the desk as she met Chloe’s eyes. “I’m worried about him too, Chloe. Oliver thinks he can handle all of this on his own and he can’t. I tried telling him that yesterday and he wouldn’t listen to me.” She bit the corner of her lip and wondered if she was saying too much. Tess decided she didn’t care. “If you need anything else, I want you to come to me. I’ll do whatever I can,” she promised.

She nodded pausing before speaking. “I’ve known something was wrong for a while, but I didn’t want to push him. But honestly Tess, I don’t give a rat’s ass what Oliver wants. He’s getting help whether he likes it or not.” She said while shaking her head. “And thank you I appreciate that. I’m going to head back to the apartment...You’ll call me if you hear from him?” She asked trying to keep her voice light.

“I will,” Tess assured her. “I’m sure he’s fine. He probably just had an early morning meeting at one of the offsite locations.” They both knew that wasn’t true, but it made Tess feel better to say it. She wanted to believe that Oliver wasn’t off doing something stupid like drinking himself into a coma but his behavior of late suggested otherwise. She was relieved to hear how determined Chloe was to help him. Tess had a feeling she was the only one who would be able to get through to him. It was just going to take some work.

Chloe arched an eyebrow. “Let’s not have you following Oliver onto the delusional train of nothing’s wrong. We both know better than that.” She said quietly before pursing her lips. She shouldn’t have said that. She knew Tess was only trying to help. “I’m sorry...I’m going to go. I lost my verbal filter six pots of coffee ago. Thank you for talking to me...I’ll see you later Tess.” The words were barely out of her mouth before she was moving towards the door and heading out of the red heads office.

Tess sighed as she watched her go. She didn’t think it would take Chloe very long to piece together what had happened the day Desmond had killed all of those people. It also wouldn’t be too hard for her to realize that Oliver blamed himself for the entire thing. Tess just hoped that when Chloe confronted Oliver about it, he told her the rest.

She knew there was no record anywhere of what had happened to Desmond that night. Tess had made sure of that herself as soon as she’d been released from the hospital. But Oliver was carrying the entire thing around with him and he just needed to get it off his chest. Tess hoped Chloe would find a way to make him talk to her before they all lost him.

______

 

Hal's hand curved over the handle as he pushed the lever forward while bringing the plane down until the wheels hit the ground. He flipped a few switches as he landed the plane on the Ferris Aircraft field. He had been up since five that morning and in the air on and off since five forty-five. Ferris had its annual review coming up next week and Hal wanted to get in some extra hours to make sure he was prepared.  
  
Not that he was too worried; they didn't have a pilot better than him on their payroll. The plane slowed down and he guided it back towards the hanger. When it came to a stop he shut off the engine and started unbuckling himself as he thought back to last night with Tess. Hal grinned. He had taken the night off of patrolling and spent it with Tess doing all kinds of depraved things.  
  
His smirk widened at the thought before he shook his head and pulled off his helmet. They'd had a good time and it had been nice to focus on nothing but her for an entire night. He popped open the door and moved out of the plane climbing down the side of it. Hal was in the process of unzipping his jacket and pulling off his gloves when he spotted Oliver several feet away.  
  
He paused frowning slightly and glanced at the clock to the side of the building. It was barely eight in the morning. He took and deep breathes not sure what to expect since his friend had obviously been avoiding him for a few days. He paused a couple of feet in front of him and he sucked in a sharp breath as he studied his friend. He looked paler then normal and his eyes looked blood shot and tired.  
  
He felt that familiar unsettling feeling tugging at him, but he pushed it away. Oliver had changed, he wasn't that guy anymore. He was just having a rough time, he told himself. Hal tossed his gloved and jacket on one of the chairs near the office in the hanger as he nodded at Oliver. "Hey man...what are you doing here?" He asked lightly.

Oliver gave Hal a tight smile. His best friend had a lousy poker face. Or maybe he just knew him too well. Either way, Oliver could see the obvious concern on his face despite the light, casual tone. He couldn’t blame him though. Oliver hadn’t slept in two days aside from the blackout he’d had in his office the day before. He knew he looked like hell and he knew the only reason Hal wasn’t mocking him for that fact was because he was concerned about him. But that was why Oliver was there. He needed help and Hal was the only one who would understand.

“Hey man, sorry to just pop up, but I need a few minutes of your time,” Oliver said. He glanced around the airplane hangar and saw that it was mostly empty, but there were still a few maintenance guys and a few of Hal’s fellow pilots milling around. “Is there somewhere we can go? This is sort of a top secret conversation if you catch my drift,” he said.

Hal studied Oliver for a minute before nodding and motioning for Oliver to follow him. Hal made his way up the stairs into the small office. He closed the door behind Oliver before sitting on one of the chairs. "What's up?" He asked before cocking his head to the side. "You done avoiding me?" He said while arching an eyebrow at his friend.  
  
He knew there was no point in beating around the bush. And Hal was always straight with Oliver. He was hurt that his friend had avoided him, but he didn't want to give him too much of a hard time because he knew it would make Oliver shut him out again and that was the last thing they needed, especially with everything that was going on right now.

“I deserve that,” Oliver said. He leaned against the wall, crossing his arms over his chest as he met Hal’s gaze. “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry,” he told him. He knew he’d been acting like an asshole and he appreciated Hal not calling him out on it more than he was. “I take it Tess filled you in on the little presents that have been coming to my office?” When Hal nodded, Oliver continued. “It freaked me out,” he admitted quietly.

“I had this nightmare that I was back on that boat with Desmond and he was holding Chloe hostage.” Oliver swallowed hard and took a deep breath as he tried to get the words out. “He threw her overboard and I couldn’t find her in the water. Chloe woke me up because I was shouting for her.” He shook his head to clear away the images and met Hal’s eyes.

“Whoever is killing these women wants to send a message to me,” Oliver said. He pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to ease the throbbing in his skull. “It has to be someone close to Desmond but I have no idea who it could be. I don’t remember him having any friends or family. No one filed a missing person’s report after he disappeared.” His voice wavered on the last word as the familiar guilt churned in his stomach.

Hal could see the guilt in his friend’s eyes and he sighed. “Oliver, man you gotta try and let this guilt go,” He told him quietly. He knew how hard things were for his friend three years ago when everything went down. But he also knew that he and Tess and worked hard to help Oliver deal with and overcome what happened. “You can’t let yourself slip down this path again.” He told him while trying to catch Oliver’s eyes.

“We’re gonna find whatever son of a bitch is doing this and take him down. I promise, but I need to know you’re gonna be around to help me man, ‘cause I can’t do it alone.” He said before studying Oliver’s face again quietly. “How much have you been drinking?” He asked tone serious, “And don’t lie to me.”

“Too much,” Oliver replied. He dragged his hand through his hair and shifted his gaze to the floor. “I drank a bottle of scotch at the office yesterday and two-thirds of another one before I went out on patrol. I argued with Chloe and I was pissed off. I haven’t slept since the night I had that nightmare.” He decided against telling Hal about passing out in his office. There was only so much shame he could own up to at once. “I screwed up, man, but that’s why I’m here. I need your help. I told Chloe that I don’t want her investigating. I doubt she’ll listen to me but I don’t think she’ll be able to make the connection on her own.”

There was no record of what happened to Desmond after Oliver had fired him. They’d never reported Tess’s abduction because they’d wanted to find her themselves and once she was safe, Desmond was already gone. The incident that had killed Nicholas Spencer and the others was a public record but Oliver didn’t see any reason why Chloe would stumble across it.

She was focusing on drowning victims or people who had been strangled. He’d checked her database history before he’d left the apartment that morning. He hadn’t told her about the second gift and she’d probably forgotten all about the pin so as long as he stopped acting like something was wrong every second, Oliver didn’t think she would find the personal connection to him.

Hal nodded as his chest tightened slightly at his friends words. Tess had been right about the drinking. He leaned back in the chair and pursed his lips. “I want you to call me from now on when you feel like drinking. You can’t go back to the way you were Oliver.” He said the words quietly, but his expression was serious. “I’ll do whatever I can to help with this, you know that. But I need you to stay on the right track…” He said before pausing. “What are you going to do about your girlfriend?” He asked hesitantly.

“I don’t know,” Oliver admitted. He wasn’t going to get into the comments Hal had made about his drinking. He appreciated his friend’s concern and he knew that he’d screwed up, but he wasn’t out of control. He wasn’t going to do it again and everything would be fine. “She’s mad at me right now and I hate it but…” He paused, not sure he wanted to admit what he’d been thinking. Hal was still watching him and Oliver figured this was his only chance to get it off his chest. “I’d rather her be mad at me for awhile than tell her about what happened with Desmond. Tess thinks I should tell her everything, but I can’t,” he insisted almost desperately. Oliver looked at Hal, waiting to hear what he had to say.

Hal sighed and nodded, he had figured as much from what Tess said. “Look you’re a big boy Oliver. I’m not going to tell you what to do. You and I both know lies create trouble. As long as you’re okay with the fact that your lies could come back and bite you in the ass, I’ve got no problem keeping your secret.” He told him honestly. “You’re my best friend, if you don’t want her to know I’m not going to say anything.” He said with a shrug. “As long as you’re good with that, then it’s not really my story to tell is it?”

He didn’t give his friend a chance to answer. “I told Tess last night to stay out of it, so Chloe isn’t going to hear anything from us, but you’ve said yourself she’s a smart girl. So do with that what you will.” He said before rolling his neck slightly before meeting Oliver’s gaze.

Oliver nodded. That wasn’t really what he wanted to hear even if it was the truth. But Hal didn’t understand. No one understood what had happened to him that night. Oliver didn’t expect them to and he wasn’t going to tell Chloe. He would accept the consequences that came with that if he had to but in the mean time, he needed Hal to help him. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a computer printout, passed it to Hal. “The police pulled an ID on the victim. Her name was Rebecca Hunter. She was the younger sister of Kristen Hunter, one of my employees who died that day along with Nicholas Spencer,” he said.

Hal took the paper and from him and glanced over the printout. He read what Oliver was telling him and his brows furrowed as he glanced back up at his friend. “Okay…What is it you want me to do with this information?” He asked slightly confused. Knowing who the victim was, wasn’t the problem it was figuring out who was doing this and what their pattern was so they didn’t hurt anyone else. “Do you have a game plan? Or are you just winging it?”

“We need to figure out who is going to be next and find a way to protect that person or those people. There were three other people who died that day Desmond snuck into the lab. If we can figure out the likely targets, I’ll call the guys and have them come to town to run security detail. But in the meantime, we need to find out who is killing these women. It has to be someone close to Desmond but the problem is that I don’t remember him having any family and I thought he was too crazy to have friends,” Oliver replied. He could see the skeptical look on Hal’s face and he struggled with his temper. “I came to you for help, Hal. Do I need to go elsewhere?” he asked.

Oliver didn’t have time to convince Hal to be on his side. He didn’t want to do this by himself, but he would if he had to. Someone was out there killing people to get his attention and he needed to find out why and put an end to it. Too many people had already gotten hurt because of his actions and Oliver couldn’t let anyone else suffer because he had made the wrong decision.

Hal frowned not liking the tone of Oliver’s voice. “Chill out man. I just don’t know what you want me to do. I’m not a research guy. I wouldn’t know where to start with this stuff.” He said giving Oliver a helpless look. “Have you forgotten what I do?” He asked before standing and glancing back at the papers. “I can give these to Tess…have her run some searches or whatever she does with the computer.” He told him before glancing at the agitation in Oliver’s body.

“I’m on your side,” He said calmly, “And you know I’ll help you protect who ever needs protecting and go after whoever needs a beat down, but I’m not the research guy. That’s why your brought Chloe into the team remember? If you don’t want her involved why not go to Victor for the stuff you need?” He asked before rubbing the back of his neck. “Or like I said, I can ask Tess.”

“Yeah,” Oliver muttered. He was starting to think it had been a mistake to come to Hal. He rubbed his hand over his face and wished he had a drink. There was still some scotch left in his office but he didn’t really feel like dealing with the pressure of being a billionaire CEO at the moment. He couldn’t go home either because he wasn’t ready to face Chloe. When did his life become such a mess? 

“I have to go,” he told Hal. Oliver motioned to the paper that Hal was still holding. “You can show that to Tess if you want but maybe I will call Victor.” Or he would just do the research himself. He was capable. “I’ll call you if I find anything. Thanks for your help,” he added as he started to walk toward the door.

Hal gripped his arm lightly. “Don’t be like that,” He said sternly. “I’m here to help, but you’re asking me to do something I don’t know how to do. You want information on these people you’re going to have to dig it up. I’m not computer friendly. Technology hates me. I can barely check all the different emails I have without Tess. If I knew how to do it I would.” He told him. “Don’t cut me out because you’re not happy with my answer.” He said while eyeing his friend.

“You, me and Tess can handle this. I’ll bring these papers home tonight and have her do a little research and as soon as we know something I’ll call you...think you can manage to stay out of trouble until then?” He asked meaning for it to be a joke, but it didn’t quite come across that way.

“I don’t need a babysitter if that’s what you’re suggesting,” Oliver replied. He eyed Hal warily; still not sure he’d made the best call bringing him into this. Maybe it would have been better if he’d just handled everything on his own. Either way, he needed to get the hell out of there and find someplace he could get a drink. Oliver didn’t intend on drinking half the bottle this time; just enough to ease the headache so he could actually focus on what he was doing, which apparently was going to be research. He didn’t want to wait for Tess.

Oliver knew Hal wasn’t going to let him walk out of there if he kept giving him attitude. He forced himself to relax, doing his best to hide the tension in his body. He gave Hal a sheepish smile. “I’m sorry, man. I haven’t slept and I’m battling this hangover headache. I think I just need to go home and crash for awhile. I think bringing Tess in is a good idea. She knows the people involved and she might have a better idea where to start researching. You have her do her thing and then call me later so I can give the guys a heads up,” he said.

Hal watched Oliver closely. He knew his friend and he was lying, which wasn’t a good thing. He pursed his lips and nodded before giving him a small smile. “Well what are you still doing here then? Go home, get some rest and fix things with your girl. I’ll call you in the morning and hopefully I’ll have some information for you.” He said while rolling up the papers and sticking them in the back of his pants.

“I will,” Oliver replied. He opened the door, stopping to glance back at Hal. “Thanks for backing me up with Tess. I know you guys don’t get it, but it’s really important to me that Chloe doesn’t find out about this. I don’t want her to see me as that guy. I’ll talk to you soon.” He walked out of the office, pulling the door closed behind him and breathed a small sigh of relief. Now he just needed to find somewhere he could go for the next few hours while he figured out what his next step was going to be.

 

______

 

Chloe stared at the information in front of her, a whirlwind of emotions filling her. Three years ago one of Queen Industry’s employees, Desmond Alvarez, a Chemicals specialist, went rouge and when co-workers reported him to Oliver and Tess, he was fired. Unfortunately for the people who reported him, Desmond was apparently unstable. He’d gone on a huge killing spree and killed all the people who reported him. It looked like he tried to kill Oliver too, but then he just disappeared.

After leaving Tess’s office that morning Chloe had spent hours going through files and cross referencing things, but she couldn’t find anything on what happened to him or where he was now. She had piles of information on the coffee table in the living room, information separated by victim and she’d taken the time to do a little research on the spouses who were still alive. If this Desmond guy was back and picking up where he left off or taunting Oliver then he’d be going after the rest of the spouses that were left alive three years ago.

Chloe’s heart clenched at her eyes took everything in. She knew what kind of person Oliver was, the pressure he put on himself, the guilt that he stewed in. No wonder he’d been so distance lately. He was feeling guilty. Something she should have picked up on right away except for the fact that he was trying to hide it from her. She still didn’t know why. Everyone felt guilt…she still did everyday for what she’d done to Tess, so why would he hide this from her?

Chloe sighed and pushed herself off the couch. She glanced over at the wet bar for a minute before taking a deep breath, walking over there and grabbing two of the bottles. She walked to the kitchen and poured them down the drain. She did this two more times making sure there wasn’t a drop of alcohol anywhere. When she finished with the wet bar she moved on to his office checking the desk and drawers.

For twenty-five minutes she searched the house for any places she thought there might be alcohol and any that she happened to find went right down the drain. When she finished pouring out the last bottle and tossing it in the garbage, Chloe wiped her hands off on a towel before running a hand down her dress. Oliver wasn’t in his right mind right now, he was upset, and feeling guilty and she knew that couldn’t be easy for him.

She was hurt and angry, but Chloe planned on doing her best to keep a lid on the anger for now, because she knew how hard this must be for Oliver and right now all that mattered was helping him and letting him know that she was on his side no matter what and they’d handle this together. She could be angry later when he was doing better.

Chloe nodded to herself and as she was turning around to make her way back towards the living room, she heard the sound of the elevator. Her eyes drifted towards the clock, it was just after eight at night and she hadn’t seen or heard from Oliver all day. Chloe took a deep breath, swallowed heavily and moved into the living room to intercept him before he went upstairs to hide from her yet again.

Oliver’s head was still throbbing as he watched the numbers climbing steadily as the elevator ascended to the penthouse. After he’d left the airfield, he’d driven in the opposite direction of Star City and ended up in a roadside bar off the interstate. He’d sat there drinking steadily for about two hours and then he’d stumbled back to his car to take a nap.

It had been after three when he woke up in the backseat and Oliver had pulled out his laptop and walked to a nearby coffeehouse. He’d ordered at least ten drinks and four bottles of water in an attempt to sober up. Oliver had thrown up a few times and once he was sure the alcohol was out of his system, he’d ordered one last cup of coffee to go and got in the car and drove back to Star City.

He hadn’t had much luck with the searches but that probably had something to do with the fact that he could barely look at the computer without a stabbing pain trying to crush his skull. He needed a shower and then he needed to sleep for at least twelve hours. But first he was going to have to face Chloe and Oliver had no idea what he was going to say to her.

He owed her an apology, but he knew she was going to expect some kind of explanation from him and he really didn’t have one. “Sorry I walked out on you and then got really drunk” didn’t have the best ring to it. The elevator dinged to signal his arrival and Oliver tried not to groan when the sound made his head feel like he’d hit a brick wall.

The doors slid open and he walked into the penthouse. He set his computer down on the entry table and slipped off his jacket, noting that it smelled like the bar he’d been in that morning. Oliver made a face and tossed it in the back of the closet before walking into the living room. His eyes fell on Chloe and he felt that familiar iron-fist clenching around his heart. “Hey,” he said quietly. Oliver couldn’t bring himself to meet her eyes, so he let his gaze drift to the wall behind her head.

Chloe swallowed heavily and her heart clenched tightly as she studied the man in front of her. In a matter of a few days Oliver had almost completely deteriorated. She knew he wasn’t sleeping well. She couldn’t remember the last time he ate and she could clearly see the guilt in his eyes now. Oliver needed to know she was there for him, but he also needed a little tough love. Chloe knew there had to be some kind of happy medium.

She leaned back against the couch and crossed her legs before resting her hands on her knee. She spoke carefully, but in a strong voice. “Hi, did you have a good day today?” She asked a hint of curiosity in her voice. “You must have really been speeding…with how far you were down on the interstate I didn’t expect you for at least another hour.” She told him and when he finally met her gaze like she knew he would at her words.

She arched an eyebrow. “Wondering how I knew where you were?” She asked calmly before giving him a slight shrug. “I Lo-jacked you…The wonders of GPS…your car has it, your cell phone has it, though I’m not actually sure why you carry it anymore if you don’t plan on answering it.” She told him as she rested her arms across her chest. Her heart clenched at her own words as she moistened her lips.

Chloe knew her words weren’t exactly filled of comfort and understanding, but they weren’t harsh or mean either. They were just statements. Her face softened as she glanced at the papers on the table before looking up at him again. “Why didn’t you tell me?” She asked her voice soft as she met his eyes. “Why wouldn’t you tell me about this Oliver?” Chloe tried not to let the hurt creep into her voice, but it wasn’t easy. She didn’t want to add more guilt onto his chest; she just wanted to know why he hadn’t trusted her with this.

A rush of panic went through him when he saw all the papers spread out on the table. Chloe had obviously done a lot of research, but he quickly reminded himself that it wasn’t possible for her to know. There was no record of anything that happened that night. Tess had even deleted her hospital record from the computers once she’d been released.

There was nothing that would prove any of them had been on that boat that night. He swallowed hard, willing himself to relax. She knew something, but she didn’t know the truth. He could work with that. Oliver opened his mouth to ask her what she was talking about and then her previous words registered in his head.  
  
“You’ve been spying on me?” His voice was filled with quiet disbelief. He knew he’d been distancing himself from her for the past few days, but Oliver couldn’t grasp that she’d actually put surveillance equipment in his car and on his phone. He pulled the latter from the front pocket of his jacket and looked down at the screen. The battery was nearly dead but he saw 27 missed calls on the screen. Oliver raised his head from the phone and met her gaze. “What gives you the right to spy on me?” he demanded.

It took Chloe a second to catch up with his words. That was not the reaction she had expected. She did her best to stay calm and took a moment to gather her words before addressing him as her jaw clenched. “I haven’t been spying on you. I haven’t seen in you close to a day, I was worried so I went online hacked into the service provider and activated the GPS that is installed in all cars and cell phones.” She said making a point to stress the words because from the look on his face it seemed like he assumed she had bugged him herself.

Chloe tried not to let the fact that he thought she would do something like that hurt her. She straightened up slightly and met his gaze, her expression hard. “And don’t you dare take that tone of voice with me. I have a right to know if you’re alive or hurt. Or have you forgotten that we’re in a relationship?” She asked a hint of sarcasm creeping into her tone until she paused and took a deep breath. “Oliver, that isn’t important right now alright? Why didn’t you tell me about this? Why lie?” She asked him again quietly.

Oliver watched her closely. She seemed to be telling the truth about the GPS and it did seem like something she would do if she was worried about him. But he still dropped his cell phone on the table and slid his hands into his pockets as his eyes drifted to the papers he’d ignored earlier. His head was pounding and he was standing too far away to see what was written on them, but a picture of Nicholas Spencer caught his eye. His stomach rolled over and Oliver closed his eyes, fighting the urge to empty the contents of his stomach for what would be the third time that day.  
  
“You’ve been looking into the murders,” he said. It wasn’t a question. He’d expected that Chloe would keep looking even though he’d asked her not to. But he had no idea how she’d made the connection on her own. She was smart but there was nothing obvious about the pattern so far. He wondered if there had been another victim and suddenly the room was spinning around him. He took a seat in the chair across from Chloe and let his head drop down to his chest for a moment as he struggled to with his equilibrium. “Did someone else die?” he asked as he forced himself to take a deep breath. Oliver knew that if the killer had claimed another victim, it was his fault. He’d been wallowing in his own misery instead of finding a way to stop the person.

Chloe paused, her heart aching at the sight of him as she reached out a hand placing it lightly on his back, her brows furrowing. She rubbed her hand up and down his back attempting to ease whatever had him looking so green and not the good kind. “No, there were no more murders today and that’s the last question I’ll be answering for you until you answer some of mine.” She told him matter of factly.

Oliver closed his eyes and let himself relax for a brief moment at the touch of her hand on his back. He missed her so much and the guilt and shame he felt for hurting her made him feel like someone was twisting a knife in his chest. He moved out of the chair, kneeling down in front of her on the couch and laying his head on her lap. “I’m sorry, Chloe. I’m sorry,” he muttered. He squeezed his eyes shut again. “I’m so tired and I…”

His voice trailed off. Oliver still had no idea what to say to her. She wanted answers and he was going to have to tell her something, but where was he supposed to start? Oliver wished they could go back to the way things were before all of this happened. He knew she wouldn’t just pretend like nothing was wrong and he wasn’t sure he could either, but all he wanted was her.

Chloe’s heart hurt. It physically hurt at the pain and guilt on his face. She gripped his cheeks and tilted his head up until he was looking at her. She let her thumbs brush against his cheeks. “It’s okay, Ollie I love you…but I can’t help you if you don’t tell me what’s going on.” She told him. “Tell me what happened Oliver. I know about Desmond. I know about the people he killed and how you feel responsible for it. But it’s not your fault. He’s a psychopath…and he’s obviously come back. He’s trying to taunt you or something by killing these people,” She said attempting to appeal to his sensibilities.

“I can help you protect them…I already found out who the spouses of all the other employees who died that day were.” She motioned towards the table. “I have their names, ages, addresses, where they work and when. But I need you to talk to me…stop pushing me away let me help. This is what I do,” She said softly trying to get the words through his thick head.

Her words hit him like someone had dumped a glass of ice water over his head and suddenly Oliver’s mind was clear. He pulled away from her; wondering how she could possibly stand to touch someone like him. But she didn’t know the whole story. She thought Desmond was behind all of this and he supposed that made sense given the evidence she’d pieced together. It wasn’t her fault she was missing the largest piece of the puzzle.

“All of those deaths are on my head, Chloe.” His voice was calm, matter-of-fact like he was talking about the weather instead of the death of five people. “Nicholas Spencer was the first one who came to me and told me that Desmond was experimenting with chemicals that he shouldn’t be. He told me that he was killing the lab rats on purpose. I thought it was weird, but I let it go. Nicholas wasn’t as good at his job as Desmond was and I thought it was a jealousy thing.”  
  
Oliver shifted off his knees and sat on the floor, leaning back against the coffee table as he looked up to meet Chloe’s eyes. “The other four all came to me too and I didn’t care. I had more important things on my mind.” He shook his head as he remembered the easy way he’d dismissed their concerns.

“Tess and I went to the lab for an onsite demonstration one day. You should have heard this guy talking, Chloe.” A visible shudder went down his spine as he recalled the horrified glances he’d exchanged with Tess as Desmond talked about how his poisons could be used to kill large groups of people. “Nicholas and the others stood behind him and they were scared. Terrified, even,” he corrected himself. “I should have listened to them. I fired him the next day but it was too late.”

She swallowed heavily and nodded. “You made a mistake. You’re not infallible Oliver, we all make them. Some consequences are worse than others,” She said while giving him a sympathetic look, “But it’s not your fault that he chose to do what he did. I’ve been doing research on this guy and he’s so far out there…I don’t even know.” She said her posture tense as she glanced at Oliver on the floor.

“Even if you had listened to Nicholas and fired him sooner, there is no doubt in my mind that he would have gone after these people regardless.” She told him certainty in her face. “This is _not_ your fault.” She told him as she reached out to him again attempting to offer him some comfort.

“It is my fault,” Oliver insisted. He got to his feet, both to avoid her touch and because he had the desperate urge to move. He couldn’t just sit there and let her comfort him. If she knew the whole truth, she probably wouldn’t be able to look at him, let alone feel sorry for him. “I fired him and just left it at that,” he continued as he paced the room.

“I should have reported him to the police. Maybe then he would have gotten help or at least been taken off the streets before he had a chance to enact his revenge.” Oliver swallowed hard, remembering the phone call he’d gotten from Desmond the day he’d released his chemical into the air and killed everyone in the lab. “He told me I should have paid more attention. He was right,” he added as he paused near the window.  
  
The night sky was dark and he knew he should be out there patrolling. There was a copycat killer out there just waiting to take his or her next victim and he was hiding in his penthouse like the coward he was. “You mentioned family members; people this killer could target next.” Oliver turned away from the window and met Chloe’s eyes. “I need you to send those names to Victor. Tell him that I need him, AC and Bart to divide them up and watch them around the clock.” Oliver knew it might not be enough, but it was better than nothing. “I told Hal this morning that we need to look into people close to Desmond. I don’t know if there are any,” he admitted.

Chloe frowned but nodded. “I can do that. I’ll send him all the information as soon as we’re done talking,” She said before pausing. “I looked into Desmond. His parents are dead; he has no siblings...no spouse or girlfriend.” She said with a shrug. “It seems like he was a loner. I’ll keep looking, but Oliver it makes sense that this is him...it looks like the anniversary of when this happened three years ago is coming up...” She said as she took a few steps closer to him letting her voice trail off.

Chloe gripped his sides lightly and pressed a kiss against his back. She knew he was hurting and that he felt guilty, but at least he was talking to her. That was a start at least.

Oliver placed his hands over hers and for a moment he was torn between pushing her away and pulling her closer. He went with the selfish choice, turned around and wrapped his arms around her. He rested his chin on her head and just held her there, shutting everything else out. But the guilt slowly began to creep back into his mind and he knew this was a mistake. He couldn’t just stay here with Chloe and pretend like people weren’t dying because of him. They had to find out who was doing this.  _He_  had to find out who was doing this.

“I need you to keep looking,” Oliver said. He pressed a kiss to the top of her head and then moved back, putting distance between them as he let his hands drop to his sides. “Desmond must have a friend somewhere or an old acquaintance or someone he worked with before Queen Industries. There has to be someone who wanted to pick up where he left off,” he said.

Chloe frowned when he pulled away from her, but she pushed aside the hurt and tried to focus on the task at hand. She shook her head when his words registered. "I spent close to an entire day on this Oliver." She said and when she saw the look on his face she quickly continued so he wouldn't get the wrong idea.

"And I will spend as many days on it as I need to until we stop this guy, but I haven't seen anyone that was close to him pop up." She told him as her brow creased. "Why are you so adamant that it's not Desmond?" She asked a hint of confusion on her face. "He disappeared Ollie, this could very well be his way of reappearing. Maybe we should start there." She suggested.  
  
"I can hack into the city's traffic grid and run his images through the system see if I get any hits. There are so many different ways I can go about finding this guy" she said lightly as she once again tried to bridge the distance between them by moving closer to him.

“It’s not him,” Oliver replied adamantly. He knew she was going to ask him how he could be so sure and he had no idea what he was going to tell her. Oliver moved away from her again, automatically heading for the wet bar. He glanced around, confused when he didn’t see any bottles. He remembered taking one bottle with him into his equipment room, but there had been at least one more bottle of scotch and a bottle of whiskey. Was it possible he drank them and didn’t remember? Oliver was pretty sure he hadn’t been that drunk; at least not when he’d left for patrol. He checked the cabinet underneath the bar and that was empty too.

Chloe knew he'd make his way to the wet bar at some point, but she had hoped if they talked and he got some stuff off his chest he wouldn't bother with it. Apparently she'd been wrong, but that wasn't even the worst part. No the worst part was that a part of her had known she wouldn't be able to stop him, which was why she went through practically every room in the apartment and got rid of all the alcohol.  
  
Chloe ignored his riffling around and crossed her arms over her chest. "How do you know it's not him?"

Oliver stopped what he was doing and glanced back at her over his shoulder. He could see the tension in her stiff posture and the fact that she hadn’t asked him what he was looking for made him think that she knew he wasn’t going to find anything. “Chloe, where did the bottles go that were here?” he asked. Oliver barely managed to keep his tone neutral as he turned to face her; his eyes bore into hers. “You got rid of them, didn’t you?” he asked before she had a chance to answer his question.

He turned and headed down the hall to his office, doing his best to ignore the stabbing pains that were shooting through his head. Oliver ripped open the bottom drawer of his desk and wasn’t surprised to see that the bottle he kept in there was empty too. Cursing under his breath, he charged back into the living room, scowling as he met Chloe’s eyes. “What the hell did you do, Chloe?” he demanded.

She tried not to wince at his tone, Chloe knew he'd be angry, but she didn't care. She saw how he drank yesterday before she went outside to get some air, which had turned into her sitting in one of his cars for over two hours since she didn't actually have anywhere she could go. She wasn't going to let him pour alcohol down his throat because he was feeling guilty.  
  
Chloe stood her ground, arms crossed over her chest, back straight as she held his gaze. "I spilled every last drop down the drain. If you're looking for the actual bottles I recycled them. It's good to be green you know," she said casually.  
  
"Now I believe I asked you a question. Why are you so sure the person killing these people isn't Desmond. You sounded awfully certain a minute ago and I want to know why." She told him her gaze never wavering from his even though he was glaring at her.

“Wow Chloe, I had no idea you had such a God complex when I asked you to move in with me,” Oliver replied snidely. “So in addition to tracking my whereabouts, you’ve also been monitoring my alcohol intake,” he said. His eyes narrowed as he crossed the room, towering over her as he met her eyes. “What else have you been keeping track of? Are the phones tapped? Have you added video surveillance or will that come later? If you have such little faith in me, why are you even with me?”

His tone was angry as a sense of betrayal coursed through him. He’d believed her when she’d told him why she’d used the GPS to find him, but now he had doubts. Maybe it wasn’t just a onetime thing. Chloe obviously had issues with him if she’d gone through the apartment and thrown out all of his alcohol like he was some kind of drunk. Sure, he’d had more than usual the last few days but it wasn’t like he had a problem. He knew what he was doing. He was numbing the pain before it drove him completely insane.

She swallowed hard her chest tightening at his words. She felt a lump form in her throat and she could feel her eyes burning, but as quickly as it came it was gone. She straightened up and met his angry eyes with a glare of her own. She would not let him intimidate her. "Wow Oliver, I had no idea when I agreed to move in with you that you were such an _asshole_ ," she mocked. "I guess we learn something new every day." She told him in a clipped tone.  
  
"If the phones were tapped I'd already know what was going on since I'm sure Hal and Tess know. Because as usual I'm the only one out of the loop, but news flash Oliver, I've been finding out people's secrets all on my own since I was a teenager. If I wanted to be a real bitch I could dig up every piece of information on you that I could ever want to know and you know it's true so don't bother insulting either of us by denying it," she snapped.  
  
"But silly me, I thought people in a relationship were supposed to be honest with each other isn't that what you told me when I was breaking into Lex's mansion with Lois? That we're a team and I need to be honest with you and work with you. Does that only apply to me because I'm some helpless girl and not Green Arrow?" She asked her voice dripping with sarcasm. "Well guess what it doesn't work that way."  
  
"I'm not going to watch you come home and drink yourself into oblivion, sorry. Numbing the pain doesn't make it go away." She said sharply. "So yes I took all the alcohol out of our home and got rid of it...You don't need it Oliver. What you need is some food...some sleep and someone who is going to help you through this.” She told him.  
  
"Listen to yourself, listen to the things you're saying to me all because your alcohol is gone. Is that normal?" She asked a hint of pleading in her eyes as she looked at him. She slid her hands up his chest. "Let me be here for you Ollie...let me help you. I'm here anything you need, anything you want; we can figure this out together. Tell me what you need to make the pain go away aside from a drink and I'll give it to you in a heartbeat...just tell me what to do." She said as her hands gripped at his sides trying desperately to get him to see that he was handling things the wrong way.

“There are things about me that you’re better off not knowing, Chloe,” Oliver said quietly. The pleading in her tone was breaking what was left of his self-control. He could practically feel her desperation and a small part of him wanted to give her what she wanted. He wanted to tell her everything so she would know that he wasn’t the person she thought he was and he wasn’t worth her sympathy or her love. He wasn’t worth anything and she needed to know that. But he was a coward and he couldn’t look into her eyes and tell her who he really was.

Oliver took a step back from her, pushing her hands away from his body so there was no physical contact between them. “I am an asshole, Chloe. Everyone knows that, even Hal and Tess so I guess it’s good that you finally figured it out. But it has nothing to do with the alcohol. It’s just a part of who I am.”

He shrugged and moved back to the wet bar. He filled a glass with water and tossed it back, letting the cool liquid soothe his throat. It wasn’t what his body wanted, but Chloe had taken that choice away from him. He slammed the glass down hard enough to crack it and Oliver couldn’t help thinking it was the perfect metaphor for his life at the moment.

Chloe wanted to scream, but she didn't think it would be productive at the moment so instead she followed him over to the wet bar. She swung her hand out and it knocked into the glass he just put down, pushing from the wet bar and sending it across the room. The glass hit the wall and shattered. She reached out and gripped his arm tight. "You're acting like an asshole, but I know you Oliver. I know who you are...the kind of person you are. And there isn't anything in the world that could make me not love you." She tried to catch his eyes as she spoke. " _Nothing_ ," she stated.  
  
"Tell me what's going on. Please don't make me go find out on my own. I'm asking you to trust me...the way I trusted you." She said quietly. "Please Ollie just tell me, what don't you understand about the fact that I can help you. We can fix this together, stop giving up on yourself..." She told him while moving even closer, attempting to hold him and give him any type of human contact she could. She could see him slipping, the uncertainty mixed with guilt and everything else. Oliver was breaking and she didn't know how to fix him.  
  
Anxiety built in her stomach as he finally looked at her. She caught his gaze and cupped his cheek. "Oliver I love you," she told him sternly, "there isn't anything I won't do for you," she felt like she was repeating herself over and over again, but she didn't know what else to say. "Tell me what you need," she pleaded with him. Before she could help him take care of these murders she needed to take care of him.

“You don’t know that, Chloe,” Oliver replied. He placed his hand over hers, holding it tighter to his face. The look in her eyes broke his heart. He knew that she loved him and she wanted to help him but he couldn’t tell her what he’d done. It was easy for her to say that she would love him no matter what because her mind probably couldn’t fathom the possibility of him doing what he’d done. Chloe thought he was a hero and he did a decent job passing himself off as one but when it came down to it, he was nothing but a failure.

“I love you,” he told her. “But I’m not the guy you want me to be and I’m sorry that I mislead you all this time.” Oliver turned his head and pressed a kiss to the palm of her hand. “I’m sorry, Chloe.” He pushed her hand away and took a step back. “Do you know what I need right now? I need a drink and since you made sure I couldn’t get one here, I need to go find one somewhere else.”

He could practically see the pain he was causing her in her eyes, but Oliver told himself he was doing the right thing. It was better for her to think that he was just a selfish asshole than for her to find out the truth. Both paths would lead her to the same conclusion. She was better off without him and the sooner she saw that, the sooner she would get as far away from him as she could. A way out was the only thing Oliver had left to offer Chloe.

Chloe shook her and moved quickly around him blocking his way to the hallway as panic settled in her stomach. "You do _not_ need a drink." She said angrily. "You know what kind of a person says they need a drink Oliver?" She asked the question and she frantically tried to come up with a way to get through to him. "An alcoholic says things like that and you're not that guy Oliver." She ignored his words about her wanting him to be a certain way. She was running out of things to say.  
  
"I can tell you that nothing you say or do will ever stop me from loving you. I can say it and I can mean it because it's true. Try me..." She said while throwing her hands up in the air. "I'm not letting you go out so you can drink until the pain is numb or until you pass out or whatever." She shook her head as she crossed her arms over her chest. She bit her lower lip and tried a different tactic.  
  
"You say you love me, then prove it. Because lately Oliver, I've felt little more than some kind of kept concubine." She said as she tried to meet his eyes knowing the comment would get a rise out of him and at least get him to stay long enough for her to possibly come up with a better plan. "When was the last time we talked? If you're not coming home and sweeping me off my feet distracting me with hours of sex then you're avoiding me, working late or patrolling and pushing me away."   
  
She told him as she tried to keep her voice steady. "I didn't move thousands of miles away and leave my family so I could be just another thing you can add to the collection of stuff you have. You want a trophy girlfriend I'm sure there are dozens of woman out here who would be happy to oblige, but not this one," she said her voice quiet as she dropping her hands from her chest. "Prove to me that I'm more than that Ollie...." She pleaded with him.

“A kept concubine, really Chloe?” Oliver repeated. Under any other circumstances, he might have laughed at that because it sounded so ridiculous but there was nothing funny about this situation. “I’m truly sorry having sex with me was such a chore for you.” He reached out, brushing his thumb under her chin as he tilted her face up to meet his eyes.

“If that’s really how you feel, then there’s nothing left for me to say. You’re standing here telling me that you’ll love me no matter what and then in the same breath you’re telling me that you think I treat you like some kind of trophy. All this conversation has done is prove to both of us that you don’t know me at all.”

He dropped his hand from her face and moved around her toward the elevator. His head hurt so much that he didn’t think he was going to be able to stand up much longer and he needed to get out of there before he collapsed. Oliver ignored the desperate ache in his chest as he pushed the button for the elevator. All of his instincts were screaming at him not to walk out on her, but he ignored them. His instincts had been wrong before and he didn’t trust himself anymore. He brought both his hands to his head when another stabbing pain shot through him.

Chloe moved quickly toward the elevator shoving past him and putting her body in front of it tears in her eyes. "What do you want me to say?" She asked him. "I tell you I love you, that I'll love you no matter what and you don't even flinch," she yelled. "I yell you don't bat an eye...apparently guilt doesn't work either huh?" She asked her heart clenching. Apparently that hadn't been the right approach. She had been attempting to shock him with her words, make him angry enough to fight with her anything to get his emotions out, but nothing and it killed her a little inside.  
  
"I've tried every tactic I know Oliver. But I should have known better. Mind games...they aren't what you and I are about." She said quickly as she placed her hands on his chest. "The truth is I see you hurting and it kills me that you won't let me in so I can help. I love you whether or not you think I should and despite what you say that's never going to change." She told him as tears built in her eyes.  
  
"You can't leave me...You promised me Oliver. You promised you wouldn't walk away. I'm sorry for what I said, you know me well enough to know I didn't mean that...or at least I thought you did." She said her voice shaky as the elevator chimed behind her. "Being with you in any way is never a chore...how many times do I have to tell you I love you before it sinks into your head?" She asked, desperation on her face as she gripped his side, pressing her face into his chest.   
  
"Don't leave Ollie...don't go. Let me be here for you, let me help," she whispered against his shirt as she tried to hold the tears that had been building since he got home back.

Without thinking twice, Oliver wrapped his arms around her and held her so tightly against him that he knew he had to be hurting her. She was making it impossible for him to walk away from her. “I love you so much, Chloe,” he said. His voice shook and he felt his eyes getting warm. Oliver blinked quickly, trying to get a grip on himself.

If he stayed, he’d have to tell her everything and despite what she said, he knew things would never be the same again. She might still love him but she wouldn’t look at him the same way. He knew how much he had already disappointed her. The truth was only going to make it worse. He had to leave. It was the only way to make her see once and for all that she was wasting her time with him.

He swallowed the lump in his throat and let his arms fall away from her. She was still clinging to him so Oliver took her hands and forcibly removed them from him. He saw the tears in her eyes and his heart shattered inside his chest. “You have to let me go. Please, Chloe,” he said. His voice was barely above a whisper as his eyes glossed over again. “Just let me go,” he pleaded. Oliver didn’t give her a chance to say anything. He moved around her into the elevator and pushed the button for the parking garage.

She turned around as the elevator was closing and when he disappeared from sight she slammed her hands against the elevator door as the damn finally broke. "You promised me Oliver!" She shouted at the elevator, her hands burning from banging against the metal, but she ignored it. "You promised!" She continued to shout until her voice went raw and she turned pressing her back against the doors, her chest tightening as a lump formed in her throat.  
  
She let her body slide down until she hit the ground, her knees up as all composure she had gave way, leaving her sobbing on the floor near the elevator. As Chloe tried to catch her breath the only thing she could focus on was the image of the door closing and Oliver disappearing from sight.


	7. Chapter 7

_“We’re sorry but the mailbox you’ve reached is full.”_

Tess nearly screamed when she heard the robotic voice on the other end of the phone. Instead, she pressed the end button and scrolled down from Oliver’s name to Chloe’s. She pressed send and waited impatiently as the phone began to ring. Four rings later, she heard a telltale click and then Chloe’s voicemail greeting began. Tess didn’t bother listening to it since she could recite it at this point. She had already left Chloe six messages and she’d lost track of the number of times she’d called Oliver before the automatic message informed her that his mailbox was full.

She ended the call before the beep sounded on Chloe’s voicemail. There was no point in leaving another message since it was pretty obvious the other woman wasn’t going to call her back. Tess set the phone down on the island in front of her and glanced at the clock on the microwave. It was just after eight p.m. and she hadn’t heard from Chloe since she had dropped by her office the day before. Oliver hadn’t been in the office for two days and his assistant told Tess that he hadn’t left any instructions despite having three meetings scheduled for that day. Tess had made excuses for him and handled them herself, but she had a bad feeling.

Tess picked up her phone again and scrolled through the phonebook until she found the number for the head of security at Oliver’s building. He answered on the first ring and it took Tess a moment to find her voice since it felt like forever since she’d spoken to an actual person. “Ron, its Tess Mercer. How are you?” She tapped her fingernails impatiently, ignoring whatever he was saying until she heard him stop talking. “I’m looking for Oliver and it’s an emergency. When was the last time you saw him?”

“Mr. Queen left the building last night around nine. He caught a cab across the street and he hasn’t been since, Ms. Mercer,” Ron replied.

“Thank you,” Tess said. She didn’t bother with any further small talk and pushed the button to end the call. This wasn’t good. Chloe must have put the pieces together by now and she probably confronted Oliver and then…Tess swallowed hard. Things obviously hadn’t ended well.

The front door opened and Tess heard Hal making his way into the apartment. She slid off the stool and made her way into the hallway. “Hal, you have to find Oliver,” she said.

Hal paused and arched an eyebrow at his fiancé. It had been a long day and aside from the quick lunch break he took to run to the local diner and get some food, most of his day at Ferris. He had been hoping to come home run through a quick patrol and spend the rest of the night with Tess and see if maybe she wanted to go over some wedding stuff.

But by the look on her face and tone of voice he was pretty sure that wasn’t happening tonight. Hal put his keys down and made his way further into the room until he was standing in front of Tess frown on his face as he gripped her arms lightly. “What’s going on?” He asked a hint of concern in his voice. “Why do I need to find Oliver? What happened?”

“He hasn’t been in the office for two days and he’s not answering his phone. His mailbox is full and I can’t leave anymore messages. I tried calling Chloe but she won’t pick up for me either. I think they probably had another fight,” Tess said. “I finally called the security guy at Oliver’s building and he told me Oliver left last night around nine and hasn’t been back since. He’s probably drowning himself at a bar somewhere or worse.” Tess let the statement hang in the air between them. She knew Hal would know what she was afraid of even if she couldn’t bring herself to say it out loud. She remembered the last time when they’d found Oliver in that hole in the wall motel in Mexico. He’d taken so many pills that he’d barely been breathing. The doctors had to pump his stomach.

Hal frowned. “Wait a minute…I just talked to Oliver yesterday morning. He stopped by the airfield. He wanted help looking into the whole Desmond thing. I told him to go home and get some rest after we talked,” He told her. But Hal wasn’t stupid. He knew his friend hadn’t gone home, but apparently he made his way there at some point. “Why are he and Chloe fighting?” He asked as he pulled out his cell phone to see if Oliver called.

There were no missed calls or messages of any kind. A surge of fear slammed through him. What if Tess was right? When he had seen Oliver the other morning his friend did not look good, but he seemed at least semi stable. What could have happened in a day that had him so far off the ledge that he was incommunicado?

Hal shook his head trying to rid himself of all the questions. “I don’t get it…When I talked to him yesterday he wasn’t fine, but he wasn’t in that I need to be restrained so I don’t go an accidentally kill myself mode either…What happened?” He asked as he met her eyes. Obviously he was missing something.

“Chloe came to see me yesterday. She was worried about Oliver and she knew that he was keeping something from her. She also knew that it had something to do with the Samantha Spencer case but she didn’t know what,” Tess said. She saw Hal’s brow furrow and she knew he was going to be furious at her, but it didn’t matter. She had to tell him everything so that he could go out there and find Oliver before it was too late. 

“She was determined to find out what was wrong with him and she asked me to help her. I told her that she should look into Nicholas Spencer and the incident at the lab,” Tess admitted. “I’m guessing she put the pieces together and confronted Oliver about it.”

Hal pursed his lips and took a moment to let her words digest before he glared at her. He shook his head and took a step away from her as he gripped his jaw for a second before looking back at her. “How could you do that?” He asked his voice hard. “Damn it Tess!” He snapped before swearing under his breath and moving towards the table to grab his keys. He slipped them into his pocket before turning back to his fiancé anger coloring his features. “You promised me you wouldn’t say anything.” He said while pointing in her direction.

He was seriously sick of all the trouble Chloe brought with her. He didn’t care if his best friend loved her. She was a goddamned nuisance, especially when it came to Tess lately. First the stuff about the wedding and now this. “When Oliver came to me yesterday he was slightly unhinged, but not too bad. I figured we could meet up with him help him with what he asked and keep him away from the edge. But one thing he was crystal clear about was not letting Chloe find out.” He said as his eyes bore into hers.

Hal could not describe the anger going through him right now. Tess was supposed to be one of Oliver’s best friends and he ask specifically asked them not to say anything to her, but of course as usual when it came to Chloe there were exceptions to every rule and he was sick of it. Oliver could be in real trouble now all because Chloe knew. “You realize that’s if she knows and went to him with the information we might not even be able to find him until he’s ready to be found.” He said his voice hard as he shook his head again. “We need to go see Chloe, now. I need to know exactly what happened with them or I’m not going to be able to find him.”

He stopped pacing for a minute and stared at Tess silently. “You’ve done a lot of ridiculous things, and I’ve backed you up with most of them, hell practically all of them. You couldn’t give me this one thing could you? You promised me Tess, does that mean nothing to you?” He asked his tone quiet but the look in his eyes furious.

“This isn’t about us,” Tess replied. His words hurt, but she tried to ignore the guilt that clenched in her chest. “I wanted to help Oliver and I thought if Chloe had some idea of what happened she might be able to get through to him.” She didn’t know what had happened between Chloe and Oliver but Tess was still convinced telling Chloe the truth, or pointing her in the direction of the truth, had been the right decision. Oliver had been hanging on by a thread for days and waiting hadn’t done them any good. 

“I didn’t tell her about Desmond or what happened on the boat that night. I just pointed her in the right direction so she would have a better clue as to what was going on. I wasn’t trying to upset you or Oliver. I just thought she might be able to help him more than we can at this point,” she said. Hal was still glaring at her and Tess didn’t know what else to say. It hurt that he’d more or less accused her of betraying him but she didn’t see it that way. Yes, she’d gone against what he wanted but it wasn’t like she’d done it for sport. She knew he was angry now but he would get over it eventually. They just needed to find Oliver.

Hal shook his head. “No Tess this is about us. Is this what marriage is going to be like? I’m going to ask you not to do something; you’re going to look me in the eye promise not to do it and then go ahead and do it anyway?” He asked her before letting out a long sigh and pinching the bridge of his nose. When he glanced back up at her his face was closed off as his hand clenched around the keys he’d tossed in his pocket.

“You know you could have just said you weren’t going to promise that. Yeah I would have been mad, but at least that way you wouldn’t have been going behind my back.” He said in a clipped tone. He couldn’t deal with this right now. Tess was right about one thing they needed to find Oliver. He motioned towards the door he’d come from. “Are you coming with me to Star City or are you staying here?” He asked her, his tone impatient.

Tears sprang up in her eyes as his words hit her like a slap across the face. It wasn’t like she’d set out to break her word to him or to Oliver. But Hal didn’t know Chloe like she did. Chloe would have figured it out sooner or later and Tess had thought it would be better if she helped her. She’d thought she was doing the right thing for Oliver. Apparently Hal thought she wasn’t trustworthy anymore. She couldn’t let herself think about how much that hurt. They needed to leave. “I’m coming with you,” she said. Tess went back into the kitchen and grabbed her phone from the island just in case Chloe or Oliver decided to return one of her calls.  

Hal was standing impatiently by the door and Tess put her hand on his arm, waiting for him to meet her eyes. “I’m sorry, Hal. I didn’t do any of this to hurt you or Oliver. I was just trying to help our friend,” she said.

Hal’s chest tightened as he saw the tears in his eyes and he had to stop himself from pulling her into his arms. He let his face soften slightly as he met her eyes. “I know that, but as well meaning as this all was, even though you knew how we felt about it Tess, you thought you knew better, which isn’t exactly a new thing.” He told her softly. “You’ve gotta stop thinking that you always know best...We should have just respected his wishes on this one Tess...I told him yesterday you were on board...that you wouldn’t say anything.” He told her hurt in his eyes. He had just gotten things back on track with Oliver and now his friend was most likely going to be pissed at him because Tess said something to Chloe after he said she wouldn’t. “Look let’s just go, we’re going to need to talk to Chloe and find out what happened. Are you ready?” He asked his voice tired.

“I’m ready,” Tess said quietly. She reminded herself that this wasn’t about them and they would work things out once they knew Oliver was safe. But it still hurt to see Hal looking at her that way. She also didn’t know where he was coming from with saying that she acted like she always knew better than everyone else. Tess wanted to question him about that but she knew this wasn’t the time. Instead, she followed him out the door and hoped to God that they would find Oliver before he did something they couldn’t save him from.

 

______

 

Chloe stared at the computer screen in front of her, eyes bloodshot her hands moving across the keys of their own accord. It had been close to twelve hours since Oliver had walked out on her. Twelve hours since she poured her heart out and begged him not to leave. She could feel the familiar burning in her eyes as a lump formed in her throat. Her hands paused on the keyboard and she bent at the waist and sucked in several deep breaths. Her heart was beating quickly and she felt like she couldn’t breathe.

How had this happened? How had everything spiraled out of control so quickly? Chloe didn’t know and she knew there was something she was missing, but she didn’t know what it was and as hard as she looked she couldn’t figured it out. Her stomach rumbled slightly, but she ignored it and turned towards the other screen. She pressed a few buttons and accessed a video feed that she’d hacked into several hours ago. It was across the street from a dive called Jenkins. It was a bar on the edge of town.

The bar her boyfriend was at, if she could even call him that anymore. She tried to ignore the ache that filled her chest at the thought. Oliver thought he was smart and normally he was, but he wasn’t thinking clearly. Sure he’d left his cell phone on the living room table and he hadn’t taken any of his cars most likely because he thought that was the only way she could find him. Well he obviously didn’t give her enough credit.

She ran his face through the facial recognition software in the database and then search the photo off of the city’s camera and video feeds until she got a hit. It had taken longer than she would have liked, but she caught a grainy image of him going into the bar about six hours ago. Chloe had looked up the address and phone number not long after. She had called to check on him once not long ago. He was definitely getting drunk and so she had given the bartender her number telling him to call her when he needed to be picked up.

Chloe hadn’t heard from the guy yet, but she had a feeling he’d be calling sometime soon. Until then she’d let Oliver drown himself in his alcohol and guilt until she figured out what the hell was going on. She turned back to the original computer her eyes going over pages of information on Desmond. No family, no wife, no children. Nothing. Chloe was still convinced that the person murdering these people was Desmond. He had disappeared and now he was back to kill the rest of these people and taunt Oliver.

That was the only explanation. She had the team split up the remaining living relative’s f the people who were killed and they were all currently staking out different people to make sure no one else was killed until they figured out what was going on. Chloe shifted and went to lift the coffee mug to her mouth, but nothing was there. It was empty. She ran a hand over her face and sighed. She couldn’t keep doing this. She wanted to run out and go to Oliver, but what would that do? How would it help? She asked herself as the familiar pain settled into her chest again.

Chloe felt sick to her stomach. She missed Oliver. She missed his laugh and the way he held her and just talking to him. A small sob broke from her throat as she stood in the middle of the office once again trying to catch her breath. She kept having these panic attacks and they weren’t helping her find new information. She needed to do something, be useful. Anything was better than the nothing she was currently doing.

Chloe managed to make her body move as she walked out of the office and down the hallway towards the kitchen stepping over broke glass, throw pillows and several broken bottles. She winced slightly as she rested the mug on the counter and glanced around the apartment. It was a mess. After spending the first three hours on the floor near the elevator waiting…hoping he’d change his mind and come back.

When he didn’t she got angry, shattered several of the liquor bottles and basically through a bit of a fit. It was completely immature, but she needed to let it out somewhere. She couldn’t keep it bottled up. Chloe shook her head and moved towards the coffee making. She put more coffee in pushed the button and waited, the smell of the brewing coffee reminding her of Oliver. She felt her eyes tears up again at thought of him her hands tightening on the counter as she let the tears slip down her face, back facing the hallway as the elevator chimed. But Chloe was too lost in her own pain to hear it.

“Chloe?” Tess called as she stepped out of the elevator with Hal right behind her. Tess’s eyes widened when she saw the trail of destruction that littered the living room and hallway. She glanced back at Hal as she avoided stepping on pieces of a broken bottle. She saw Oliver’s phone on the table and moved further into the apartment. “Chloe, where are you?” she called louder. 

The drive there had been filled with a stony silence as Tess tried not to break down and cry while Hal drove as fast as he could. It normally took them thirty to forty minutes and he had gotten them there in twenty. They’d stopped downstairs and talked with the doorman and he told them the same thing Ron had told Tess. Oliver had gotten into a cab and he hadn’t been back since. But neither the doorman nor Ron had seen Chloe leave the apartment so Tess knew she was there somewhere.

Chloe heard Tess’s voice and she immediately wiped her face and focused on calming her breathing down. She didn’t want the other woman to see her this way. She dried her tears and walked around the island forgetting about the coffee as she spoke her voice slightly hoarse from the yelling and then the lack of being used. “I’m in here,” She said before cleaning her throat.

Hal glanced at Tess and walked over the mess on the floor towards the sound of Chloe’s voice. He wasn’t sure what had happened to the apartment, but it was more than obvious Oliver wasn’t in a good place. He was going to have to talk to Chloe quickly and then go find Oliver. He made his way towards the kitchen, but paused when he caught sight of the blonde standing right outside t he kitchen.

He sucked in a long breath at her appearance and he swallowed hard. He was at a loss for words. And when he opened his mouth to say something she cut him off. “What are you two doing here?” She asked quietly, her gaze shifting from Tess to Hal and she glared slightly.

“Oliver didn’t show up at the office again and I was worried,” Tess said. Chloe looked terrible and Tess’s heart broke for her. Tess had no idea what had happened but it had obviously been bad. “I’ve been calling both of you and no one answered so I told Hal about the conversation we had yesterday.” She could see Chloe glaring at Hal but she kept talking. “Chloe, we need you to tell us what happened so we can find Oliver and bring him back,” she said.

Chloe snorted. “Find Oliver? Oliver’s already been found.” she said before sending Tess an apologetic look for snapping before turning her head back towards Hal and continuing to glare at Him. She couldn’t believe he had the nerve to actually come to the apartment. Just when she thought things were finally getting on track and they were going to try and get along he proved her wrong.

Hal frowned before arching an eyebrow in Chloe’s direction. “What do you mean he’s been found and is there a specific reason you’re looking at me like that?” He asked his voice hard as he studied the woman in front of him.

Chloe pursed her lips ignoring the first part of his question. “I don’t like liars and you,” She said pointing her voice angry, “Happen to fall into the category.” She told him before turning towards Tess. “I want to know what happened to Desmond. I know you both know and I want to know...now.” She said her tone clipped, body tensed as she glanced between them.

Hal opened and closed his mouth not entirely sure what to say to Chloe’s outburst. He gave Tess a sideways glance trying to see if she knew what Chloe was talking about.

“Chloe, I can see that you’re upset and I know you have every right to be, but if you know where Oliver is, you need to tell us so Hal can go get him.” Tess took a step closer to Chloe and she could see about one hundred different emotions on the other woman’s face. Tess knew she had to try and appeal to Chloe’s rational side. “I know you’re angry and you have a lot of questions and not enough answers, but we can’t leave Oliver out there by himself. He’s been down this road before and it doesn’t end well. Do you know where he is?” she asked.

Tess wasn’t going to answer the Desmond question. Oliver was the one carrying around the burden for that and he had to be the one to tell her. Tess still believed it was the right thing to do and he would feel better getting it off his chest. She knew he never talked about it; not even with her or Hal. If they hadn’t been with him that night, Tess doubted they would know what happened to Desmond either.

Chloe pursed her lips and glanced between them. “He’s at Jenkins, a bar at the edge of town. The bartender said he’d call me when he cut Oliver off. You want Hal to go out and get him, go for it. Have fun with that.” She said before turning her back on them. “And if I need someone to avoid my questions I can just talk to Oliver.” She said her tone clipped. “I’m sure you two can see yourselves out.” She knew the words were harsh, but she was tired of being lied to because Oliver or whoever else didn’t feel like she should know what was going on.

To hell with all of them, she didn’t need any of them. She’d figure out what was going on all on her own he way she’d done mostly everything her entire life.

Hal glared at the blonde his shoulders tensing. “I don’t know what your problem is, but you don’t need to be such a bitch,” He said his tone hard as he shook his head. “Tess went out of her way to help you, don’t get angry with her just because you set Oliver off and he took off.” He snapped at her as irritation filled him. Who the hell did Chloe think she was yelling at them that way? He shook his head.

Chloe whirled around, her eyes slits as she glanced at Hal. “You know I’ve had just about enough of you and your snide comments. I’ve been dealing with your shit since you came to Metropolis and I’m tired of it. I don’t know why you don’t like me and frankly I don’t care. I’m in Oliver’s life and I’m not going anywhere so suck it up and if you can’t the door is right behind you, get the hell out, because I have bigger problems to worry about then you whining and complaining about me.” She snapped before shaking her head and pointing a finger in his direction.

“I flat out asked you when you came by here the other day if something was wrong with Oliver and you told me no…you made me feel like I was silly for even thinking something could be wrong when you knew he whole time Oliver wasn’t okay.” She said as a hitch sounded in her voice and she paused to pull herself together.

“If the situation was reversed and I knew something about Tess, you would flip out if I didn’t say something. And you know it’s true…So unless you have something helpful to add, you can get out.” She said her back once again facing them.

Hal stood there his mouth wide open at her words. He couldn’t believe she’d actually said all that or that he’d let her. His chest tightened, heart clenching as her words settled around him. Yes, he had lied, but he didn’t it because Oliver didn’t want her to know and his loyalty lied with his best friend.

“This isn’t helping,” Tess said. She laid a hand on Hal’s chest and met his eyes. She knew he was angry and hurt and probably a bunch of other things too but she didn’t want to waste anymore time. “We need to deal with one problem at a time. Go get Oliver and bring him home,” she said. “I’ll stay here with Chloe.” She paused as something else occurred to her. “I want you to text me if you think we need to call Emil.” Tess had no idea if Oliver was in bad enough shape to turn to drugs again, but she knew they needed to be prepared for the worst case scenario.

She stepped away from Hal and turned to Chloe. “You can be mad at us and you can be mad at Oliver but we’re not going anywhere either. I need you to trust me on this, Chloe. If Hal or I told you what you want to know, Oliver will never forgive any of us.” Tess hesitated, biting the corner of her lip as she considered her next words. She remembered what Hal had told her earlier about always thinking she was right. Maybe she did to that without realizing it and if that was the case, she wished Hal had told her sooner that he had such a big issue with her. But it was already too late because she’d made up her mind.

“Once Hal brings Oliver back here and we get him to sober up, I think he’ll tell you the truth,” Tess said. She could feel Hal’s eyes on her, but she ignored him and stayed focused on Chloe. “But if he still refuses, I promise I will tell you everything,” she said.

Chloe stood there for a few minutes silently as several thoughts rushed through her head. Why would they need Oliver's doctor? Her chest tightened again and she felt like someone was sitting on it, cutting off her air supply. Chloe pressed a hand against her chest as she paled slightly and closed her eyes to try and calm her frantically beating heart. When she opened her eyes again she glanced at Hal and arched an eyebrow.  
  
"Why are you still here?" She asked sharply, "You're so worried you know where he is, go get him." She snapped.  
  
Hal opened his mouth, but promptly shut it. He would deal with Chloe later, right now he needed to focus on Oliver. He pointed at the blonde. "We're going to be talking about this later," he said his tone hard.  
  
Chloe rolled her eyes, "Get out Hal, now." She said her voice too calm as she stared angrily at him. She motioned towards the elevator and waved him off.  
  
Fury filled Hal's chest as he watched Chloe giving him orders. "You do realize this is Oliver's apartment right? You can't just order people in and out like you're the boss. Especially not me," he told her wanting to make that point before he left. He could feel Tess watching them as she shook her head.  
  
Chloe glared and crossed her arms over her chest. "You know...you're right this isn't my place, but since Oliver is out drinking himself into oblivion guess what, that leaves me calling the shots for now." She told him and motioned towards the door.  
  
Hal glanced between Chloe and Tess before storming towards the elevator, pushing the button and moving inside once the doors opened. He was beyond tired of Chloe and he was pissed that Tess was planning on telling her.  
  
Chloe watched the doors close before she glanced at Tess and moved back towards the coffee. "I don't need a babysitter." She told the other woman tone calm as she slammed her hand against the side of the coffee machine trying to figure out why the coffee still wasn't done yet.

Tess shook her head. “Enough with the attitude, Chloe,” she snapped. Her eyes narrowed as she took a step closer to the counter so she was standing directly across from her. “I’ve been as honest with you as I can be and in doing so I betrayed the two people who matter most to me in the world.” Her voice shook as her mind flashed to the anger in Hal’s eyes. She wasn’t sure he was ever going to be forgive her for this and Tess knew Oliver never would if she told Chloe the truth about Desmond. “I don’t give a damn if you’re angry and want to beat up all the appliances. I am going to sit here until I know that Oliver is okay whether you like it or not.”

She spun on her heel and stalked out of the room, bypassing the living room and making her way down the hall to the guest bedroom that had once been hers. Tess sat down on the bed, pulled her knees up to her chest and rested her head against them. She was angry and she was scared and she had no idea where any of them were supposed to go from here. Tess took a few deep breaths to try and calm herself down.

They’d gotten Oliver through this once before and they would do it again. Tess knew Hal was angry now but he would get over it. He loved her. Tess’s eyes drifted to the ring on her finger and her heart clenched. What if she’d made the wrong choice and he never trusted her again? She couldn’t live with that.

 

______

 

Oliver sat in the back corner of the poorly lit bar. The table in front of him was littered with empty bottles and he took a swig from the cold beer someone had placed in his hand not that long ago. He held an ice pack up to his face with his other hand. It wasn’t doing much to bring the swelling down from the fall he’d taken off the bar stool, but he liked the way the cold pack felt against his hot skin. It was about 900 degrees in the bar and the bartender had told him repeatedly that the air conditioning was on but Oliver was pretty sure that guy was a liar. Oliver knew a liar when he saw one. He looked at one in the mirror every day of his life.

He took another long drink of beer wishing it was something stronger but he’d already finished the bottles of scotch and whiskey the guy had given him when he’d first come in. Oliver wasn’t sure when that was or how much time had passed. Chloe knew where he was. Oliver had listened when the bartender had promised to call her and then he’d paid the guy five thousand dollars to make sure that never happened. Oliver had to give her credit for finding him so fast. Maybe she’d installed some kind of tracking device in his skin. Amused, he laughed as he took another drink, finishing the bottle. Oliver waved his hand in the air to catch the waitress’s attention. She nodded and headed to the bar.

This was one of those times when his name came in handy. Oliver leaned back in the booth, holding the ice pack tighter against his skin. He knew if he were anyone else he would have been tossed on his ass when the bar had closed down for the night, but the bartender had agreed to let him stay there as long as he promised to have some coffee. Oliver kept his word and as soon as he finished what he guessed was at least two pots of coffee, he’d switched to beer and everyone was happy.

Or no one was happy, Oliver reasoned. He nodded his thanks to the waitress and brought the fresh bottle to his lips. His eyelids felt heavy but at least his head wasn’t throbbing anymore. Someone had been kind enough to slip him some aspirin. The bartender – Oliver really needed to learn that guy’s name – had told him not to mix it with the alcohol but Oliver had assured him he’d survived worst and threw back the pills, chasing them with a full bottle of beer. The headache had subsided leaving a dull ache in its place but that was nothing compared to the pain in his chest every time he thought of Chloe which was pretty much every other second. Groaning, Oliver closed his eyes, resting his head against the wall as he continued to drink.

Hal shoved his way through the doors of the empty bar, shrugging off the man outside who was yelling that the bar was closed. He already knew that and he didn’t give two shits. The ride hadn’t been long from the house, maybe fifteen minutes or probably less than with the way he’d been driving. He wasn’t sure. Hal glanced around the bar and spotted Oliver in the back corner at a booth. His chest tightened at the sight of his friend and his mind flashed to three years ago when he used to find Oliver like this close to every night.

He shook his head and sighed, his anger from earlier draining slightly as he walked over to the table. He curled his fist and knocked on the wood to get Oliver’s attention and when his friend looked up Hal arched an eyebrow. “It’s time to come home and before you say anything, I’m having a bad night so let’s skip the part where you throw a tantrum, I hit you and then drag your unconscious ass to the car because you’re getting heavy in your old age.” He said but his usual humor wasn’t behind the words.

“I’m good here,” Oliver replied. He took another long sip from his bottle as he sent Hal a wary look. He doubted Chloe would have called him so he could only assume Tess was sticking her nose into his business again. “Your girlfriend has a big mouth,” he commented. It hadn’t taken much deduction on his part to figure out that Tess had to have pointed Chloe in Desmond’s direction. Oliver didn’t care for the way Hal was looking at him so he turned his attention to the bottle in front of him, slowly pulling the label off as he spoke. He was too drunk to notice the way his hand shook as he tried to grasp the edge of the paper.

Hal smacked the bottle out of Oliver’s hands and sent it flying and crashing into the wall. He saw movement out of the corner of his eye and turned glaring at the bartender. “If you come over here I swear to god you’ll regret it.” The guy hesitated and Hal turned back to Oliver. “You’re right she does have a big ass mouth, not get up. Don’t make me drag you out of here man. Have a little pride,” He said even though he knew he was talking to a brick wall. He wasn’t sure how Oliver had gotten from point ‘A’ to ‘B’ since he saw him yesterday morning, but this wasn’t good.

“What’s the point?” Oliver asked. He set down the ice pack since it was no longer cold and looked up, meeting Hal’s eyes. “I tried, Hal. I tried to live the normal life and it was a mistake. You should have heard Chloe yesterday, begging me to stay with her, reminding me that I promised her I’d never walk out on her.” His voice cracked and he nearly choked on the lump in his throat as her words echoed in his head and he saw the pleading look in her eyes. “I knew better. Do you remember?” Oliver asked. “I didn’t want to get involved with her because I knew I can’t have a relationship. I said it was for the team and maybe it was at the time but really it’s this.” He gestured wildly to the table filled with empty bottles.  
  
“This is me, Hal,” Oliver said. His words slurred as tears burned in the corners of his eyes. “I’m no one’s hero. I’m not the good guy. I’m just the spoiled rich bastard who likes to pretend otherwise until he can’t anymore. Who the fuck was I kidding? I need another drink.” He waved his hand but the bartender glanced at Hal and then looked away. Oliver scowled at his friend. “Do you see what you did? Now I need to find somewhere else to drink,” he muttered.

Oliver’s words made his heart clench and he swallowed hard before pulling out a chair on the opposite side of his friend and sitting down slowly. He was quiet for a minute before he pursed his lips and let his eyes roam over the table at the empty bottles before shaking his head. “No, this,” He motioned towards the bottles with his hand, “This isn’t who you are. This is who you become when you let the guilt overtake your common sense.” He told him quietly.

“This is what happens when you let lies get in the way of your friendships and relationships. Why did you come here? We had a plan Oliver. I told you I’d bring the information to Tess and have her look into it. I said the three of us would work together...I told Tess to stay out of it, because this wasn’t the same thing as last time,” He told his friend quietly, his chest aching when he thought about Tess. He pushed the pain away and focused on Oliver.

“You’ve gotta come home man. How are the four of us supposed to protect the rest of those people if we’re busy being worried about you downing alcohol and drugs...Don’t make me a liar.” He told him attempting to be stern. “And what about Chloe,” He said since Oliver had brought her up first.

“You know she yelled at me...and unless you threw a tantrum before leaving your apartment I’m pretty sure she’s doing some redecorating without you. You plan on walking away from that?” He asked trying to keep his voice neutral and elicit some kind of reaction from Oliver that wasn’t about alcohol. “If you’re done with her the least you could do is tell her in person...don’t you think?” He asked with an arched eyebrow.

“She thinks it was Desmond,” Oliver said quietly. He reached for one of the empty bottles and started peeling the label again. He needed something to do with his hands. “She thinks it was him who killed Samantha and Rebecca. I kept telling her that she needed to look into associates of his; there has to be someone we’re missing. She asked me point blank why I was so convinced it wasn’t Desmond.” Oliver looked up from the bottle with glassy eyes as he met Hal’s gaze. “I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t look her in the eye and tell her the truth. I’d rather she hate me for walking out on her than have to look into her eyes and see how much I disappointed her. Please leave me alone,” he said.  
  
Oliver couldn’t do this. He couldn’t sit there with Hal and see the worry in his friend’s eyes anymore than he could go home and face Chloe. Sooner or later she would be angry enough to leave. She would hate him for the rest of her life and he would never forgive himself for that but at least she wouldn’t be burdened with the truth.

Hal’s face hardened as Oliver looked away from him. He knew his friend needed to be convinced that sitting in a bar and drinking himself into a stupor wasn’t the way to go about things, but he also knew Oliver well enough to know that wasn’t a task easily accomplished. He was quiet for several minutes before he leaned back in his seat and folded his hands together placing them on the table in front of him. “You’re wrong, you know.” He said waiting for Oliver to look at him before he continued.

“You know that I’m not crazy about Chloe. I’ve never exactly kept that a secret. But I’m pretty sure the woman I saw tonight couldn’t be more disappointed in you if she tried,” He said sharply. “You could probably tell her you tried to blow up the world with a nuclear missile and she’d shrug it off.” He sighed and leaned forward slightly. “Chloe is disappointed that you left. If you tell her about Desmond...she might be a little shocked but she won’t leave you Oliver,” He told his friend quietly before pausing.

“If you don’t tell her Tess is going to,” He said softly. “Wouldn’t you rather it came from you?” He asked. “Let me get you out of here...sober you up a bit and bring you home. If things don’t go well then I promise tomorrow I’ll buy you your favorite bottle of scotch and drink with you,” He said as a last resort.

There was a part of him that wanted to let Tess tell Chloe what he’d done. Oliver didn’t want to see the shame and disappointment in her eyes when she found out who he really was. But the part of him that still gave a damn knew that wasn’t fair. It wasn’t fair to put that burden on Tess and it wasn’t fair to Chloe. Oliver had brought her into this mess. He’d let her fall in love with him and he’d convinced her to leave her home and her family behind because he’d promised he would be there for her. He had already failed her on so many levels. Hal was probably right. She might not see it yet but Chloe probably already hated him. He might as well tell her the truth and complete the process.  
  
“All right,” he told Hal quietly. Oliver didn’t have any argument left in him and he just wanted to get this over with. He started to stand up and the entire room spun around him. Oliver held onto the booth and closed his eyes, trying to find his balance.

Hal hid the surprise from his face knowing that showing any sign of weakness might make his friend reconsider. He quickly got up and moved to Oliver’s side to steady him before helping him slowly stand up. He motioned for the bartender to get the door and helped Oliver support his weight as he walked with him towards the door. “We need to get some coffee in you; I’ll stop on the way back to the penthouse. You will sit in the car.” He told his friend sternly.

“Whatever you say,” Oliver muttered flatly. He leaned against Hal as they walked outside and when the cold air touched his skin, the full weight of all the alcohol in his system hit him like a ton of bricks. Oliver groaned as everything around him seemed to spin and he fought the urge to throw up. He was already regretting his decision but he knew Hal wouldn’t let him walk away now and the truth was he wouldn’t make it two feet on his own and he knew it. Oliver let Hal settle him into the front seat of his car and he leaned his head against the headrest, letting his eyes drift closed.

Hal watched Oliver’s eyes close and he sighed as he shut the door. He pulled out his phone and text Chloe to let her know he was bringing Oliver back and that they should be there in less than an hour. He sent the same message to Tess before slipping his phone back into his pocket and getting in the driver’s side of the car. He gave Oliver a sideways glanced and his chest tightened. He started the car and pulled away from the curb, all the while thinking they really needed to get this thing settled before it was too late.

 

______

 

Chloe finished scooping the up the last of the glass and poured it into the garbage with a wince at the sound it made. The apartment was once again clean everything put back in its rightful place and all the things she’d broken in the garbage. After Hal and left and Tess stormed off Chloe needed something to keep herself busy. So while the computer system was running its searches for anyone close to Desmond she had started putting things back together.

Chloe shook herself out of her thoughts as she put the broom and shovel away before leaning her back against the kitchen counter for a minute. Her head was killing her, her chest was tight, her heart ached and her entire body felt like it could collapse at any minute. But none of that mattered at the moment because Hal was bringing Oliver home.

She took a deep breath and swallowed heavily. Chloe wasn’t sure what she was doing anymore aside from going through the motions. She was scared for Oliver, but at the same time she was furious and hurt and she couldn’t help feeling all alone. Hal and Tess obviously knew what was going on and from the things she heard them saying to each other it seemed like this wasn’t the first time something like this had happened.

Chloe just wished they’d tell her what was going on. She loved Oliver just as much as they did, maybe more. She could help him…but she couldn’t do that without all the facts. She let out another long sigh and ran a hand over her face before glancing down the hallway. She winced at Tess’s words from earlier. She hadn’t meant to snap at the other woman. If she was going to get through this Chloe needed to be in control of her emotions and not the other way around.

She took a deep breath and pushed away from the counter before walking down the hall towards the spare bedroom. She paused for a second before lifting her hand and knocking on the door. “Tess…it’s me…Can I come in?” She asked quietly, her voice still slightly hoarse from lack of use.

Tess wiped the remaining tears from her face and took a few deep breaths to pull herself together. She’d been calm until she’d received Hal’s text message telling her that he was on his way back with Oliver and then it had been like someone had opened the floodgates. She’d already washed her face twice but the stubborn tears kept coming back. Hal hadn’t given her any idea what kind of shape Oliver was in but he hadn’t said anything about Emil so she figured that meant he wasn’t high, which was something at least.

“You can come in,” she called out to Chloe. Tess felt bad about walking out on her but she really couldn’t handle one more person being mad at her. Tess ran her finger over her engagement ring and wondered if Hal was still going to want to be with her when all of this was over. His words had been more than just a heat of the moment reaction. She couldn’t help wondering how long he’d been keeping his issues with her bottled inside.

Chloe turned the knob and pushed open the door making her way inside. She saw Tess on the bed and her chest tightened at the tear marks on the other woman's face as guilt filled her. She shouldn't have snapped at Tess. The red head had been the only person to offer her any kind of insight into what was going on. Chloe swallowed heavily and hesitated before walking over to the bed and sitting down on the edge.  
  
"I'm sorry," she said quietly before meeting Tess's eyes. "I shouldn't have snapped at you." She told her with a helpless shrug. "I'm not angry with you...I never was. I'm angry with the situation...and at Hal and as much as I hate to admit it Oliver also." She said softly as she placed a hand over Tess's. "Please don't be angry at me," she whispered. "You're sort of the only person who doesn't hate me at the moment," she said quietly.  
  
"I know you went against what Hal and Oliver wanted and that means a lot. I'm sorry I'm still causing so much trouble." Her eyes glistened slightly, guilt shining in them as she studied the woman in front of her. "Are you alright?" She asked concern filling her voice as she spoke.

“I’m not angry with you, Chloe,” Tess said. She rubbed her face again and shifted on the bed until she was sitting beside Chloe. “Oliver doesn’t hate you. He hates himself. That’s why he’s doing this.” She sighed and rolled her head, trying to get rid of the tension in her neck. She was exhausted but she doubted any of them would be able to sleep anytime soon. “I’m sorry this happened the way it did. Actually, I’m sorry it happened at all.” Tess had really thought they’d helped Oliver the first time he’d gone through this and she’d never expected to have to watch him fall apart again. She also hadn’t expected someone to come back and start taunting him with murders either.

“Hal is on his way back with Oliver,” Tess said. She wasn’t sure if he’d texted Chloe or not. “He didn’t tell me anything so I don’t know how he’s doing but I’m guessing not well.” Tess reached out and clasped Chloe’s hand in hers. “Is there anything I can do for you?” She didn’t want to sit there crying anymore.

Chloe squeezed Tess's hand lightly, but continued to look down. "Hal text me." She said briefly letting her know she already knew they were on their way back. "I'm sure Oliver's fine aside from being drunk off his ass," she said her tone void of emotion. "I would think Hal would have said something if Oliver was in bad shape." Or at least she hoped he would have said something.

Anxiety built in her stomach and for a minute it felt like all the coffee she'd consumed in the past twelve hours might come up. Chloe fought the urge as her stomach rolled. She focused on the rest of Tess's words and she nodded. "I know Oliver doesn't really hate me, but he's convinced himself that he does. He's taken whatever guilt is eating at him and turned it into this nasty anger directed at me and even though every time he yells at me I know he's really yelling at himself, it doesn't make the words cut any less deep," she said before a lump forming in her throat cut off the rest of her words.  
  
Chloe squeezed her eyes shut tightly as her free hand went to her stomach almost like she was trying to sooth the gut wrenching ache that was settling there. She was angry with herself for being weak, for letting the emotions overwhelm her. She knew Oliver and the reason he was acting out like this was because he was hurting. Yet she was still angry at him and still hurt by what he was said. Everything instead her ached just to feel his arms around her.  
  
Chloe wanted to scream and cry and yell and just for once be happy, but she knew better. Things had been too good with them, the other shoe had to drop and boy did it. She took a deep breath and shook herself out of her thoughts. Oliver was in trouble and all she could think about was how this affected her and how much she missed him. She was a horrible human being.   
  
Chloe opened her eyes immediately shutting down all the emotions on her face as she tried to clear her throat. "No, there's nothing you can do, but thank you. I'm fine." She said the words and she could feel the lie sitting on her own tongue. She finally turned and looked up at Tess. "What about you? Do you need anything? Drink? Food? To talk?" She asked quietly as she studied the red heads face.

Tess shook her head. She didn’t want to talk anymore than Chloe did. She wished there was something comforting she could say but Chloe was right. Oliver was taking his anger out on the people around him just like he had done the last time he’d gone down this path. Tess remembered one particularly nasty fight they’d had in the office that had ended with Oliver storming out and disappearing for three days. The only reason Tess and Hal had known he was still alive was because a tabloid photographer had gotten a picture of him stumbling out of a bar in Center City.

“Hal’s doing the same thing,” Tess said. “He’s mad at me and he took it out on you because you were there. I’m sorry about that. Hal doesn’t handle scared well but he’s pretty good at doling out blame. Of course I deserve it in this case but that’s beside the point.” She felt guilty that Hal and Chloe had fought again after Hal had made an effort to put his issues with Chloe aside. At this rate, they’d be lucky if they ever got to the point where they could stand in the same room together.

Chloe sent Tess a sideways look. "No offense, but Hal's never needed a reason to yell at me." She said before looking away. "I am sorry that you two are fighting. That seems to happen a lot because of me." She said quietly as she attempted to keep the guilt from filling her chest. Tess had forgiven her for the whole Luthor debacle, but the problem was she still hadn't forgiven herself for it and maybe that was why Hal still blamed her...Who knew.  
  
Chloe shook her head and frowned slightly. "And for the record you didn't do anything wrong. I get that Oliver didn't want me to know and neither did Hal, but nobody took the time to think that if I knew what the hell was going on I'd be more prepared for this moment instead of floundering around like some kind of lost animal." She said her voice hard, but not directed at Tess.  
  
"Nothing Oliver tells me will make me love him less." She said before glancing at Tess. "I'm not the kind of person who moves thousands of miles away from her home and family on a whim. I don't open my heart easily and I know Oliver is hurting right now and he's not in a good place, but tell me," she said pausing for a second to gather her words.  
  
"What makes Oliver think that I love him less than you and Hal love him? What makes him think that whatever he has to say or tell me is going to make me turn away from him?" She asked her eyes watering again.  
  
"You and Hal still love him, that much is obvious he doesn't think I can handle whatever it is...he doesn't think I love him enough to stay. And honestly Tess...that's a problem for me. When this is all over and we help him through this...I just don't know what's going to happen with us." She told her quietly.

“I don’t think that’s what it is,” Tess replied. She bit the corner of her lip, trying to think of a way to explain Oliver’s mindset without telling Chloe the whole truth. She wasn’t sure there was one. “He’s afraid you’re going to look at him differently. You have this image of the kind of man you think he is, the kind of man he actually is and he thinks it’ll be tarnished once you find out what happened. Personally I think he’s doing more damage now than if he would have just told you but Oliver doesn’t handle guilt well.” She squeezed Chloe’s hand again. “I understand that you’re hurting right now and you’re angry and I don’t blame you. I’d like to hit Oliver upside the head a few times. But this isn’t him and I really hope you can find a way to get past this. I’ll understand if you can’t though,” she added quietly.

Tess wasn’t sure Oliver would ever get over it if Chloe left him, but Tess knew he wouldn’t try to stop her. They would get Oliver back on track; they’d done it before. But there were some lines that could never be uncrossed and some words that couldn’t be taken back. Tess knew Oliver was never going to forgive himself for hurting Chloe. Sighing, she mentally cursed this entire mess.

She nodded, "I hope we can too." The words were true, but Chloe wasn't sure anymore. She loved Oliver more than anything, but he was supposed to know her better than anyone. She thought he did. She could see how the guilt was weighing on him and she wouldn't leave him when he needed her. The truth was, Chloe most likely wouldn't leave him no matter what happened. There was only one thing that would make her end her relationship with Oliver and that was if he cheated on her.  
  
And even drunk, Chloe knew for a fact he'd never do that to her. She shook herself out of her thoughts and opened her mouth to thank Tess when the sound of Hal's voice traveled through the open door.  
  
"Would you cut that out? Just go the way I'm taking you, jeez man, you could stand to lose a few pounds you know that?"   
  
A ghost of a smile touched Chloe's lips at the attempted humor in Hal's voice even as anxiety filled her body. They were back, but for how long? Chloe pushed he thought aside and stood motioning towards the door. "I made a fresh pot of coffee and put out some tylenol for him, but I don't know if Hal saw it...You coming?" She asked while starting to move towards the door.

“Yes,” Tess said. She got up and followed Chloe down the hall to the living room where Hal was struggling to support Oliver. One side of his face was bruised and swollen and Tess could see the dark circles under his eyes from across the room. He looked like hell but she took some comfort in the fact that she had seen him look much worse. Even though he was leaning heavily on Hal as he tried to steer him toward the couch, Tess was grateful that he was conscious and it seemed like he was somewhat coherent. She moved toward the kitchen to get the coffee Chloe had started.

Oliver shoved Hal’s arm away from him as he stumbled backward onto the couch. “Are you happy? You did your good deed and I’m home. Now you can go,” he muttered as he closed his eyes and let his head fall back against the cushions. The stabbing pain was back and he just wanted Hal to leave him alone so he could pass out in peace. He had babbled the entire car ride, talking nonsense and shoving coffee at him every time Oliver tried to go to sleep and he was too tired to listen to another minute of it.

Hal glared at his best friend and lifted the water bottle he had in his hand. He twisted open the cap and tossed some of it on his friend to wake him up. Probably not the brightest idea, but it did startle his friend's eyes open. Hal gave him a false cheery grin. "Oh look sunshine is awake." He said sarcastically. "Keep your eyes open," he warned as he glanced at Chloe who was standing off to the side watching Oliver. He turned back to his friend. "I'm going to grab you some drugs...legal ones." He said pointedly.  
  
Chloe's heart clenched at the state Oliver was in, but when she heard what Hal said she turned and glanced at him. "I left some Tylenol on the kitchen counter and made some coffee," she told him quietly. Hal glanced at her and stood there for a second before nodding and moving out of the living room and leaving her alone with Oliver.  
  
She took a few steps towards the couch and pursed her lips as she called out to Hal, "Bring in an ice pack too please," she said before rubbing her own arms lightly as she studied his face. "Nice shinner," she said her tone neutral.

“The floor took the worst of it,” Oliver muttered. He brought himself into a sitting position and pushed his hair out of his face as the water Hal had dumped on him ran down his body. Apparently sleep was not going to be an option. He forced himself to look at Chloe. It was obvious she hadn’t slept and he knew that was his fault. He wanted to tell her that she shouldn’t worry about him but he figured that was pointless when he was sitting in front of her looking like he’d died three days earlier. He owed her an apology, several of them, but Oliver didn’t know where to start so he didn’t say anything.

A wave of nausea sent his stomach rolling and Oliver groaned, leaning forward and putting his head between his knees as he fought to keep all the alcohol he’d consumed from coming back up. He knew Chloe was watching him and that only made him feel worse. What the hell had he been thinking letting Hal bring him back here?

Chloe hesitated before grabbing the small waste bin and bringing it over to him as she slowly sat down beside him, her hand going to his back and rubbing it lightly. She swallowed heavily and it took every ounce of strength she had to keep her voice from shaking. She needed to keep a clear head. She couldn't help Oliver if she was blubbering all over the place.  
  
Chloe moved her hand rhythmically up and down his back. "Take deep breaths and as an incentive, keep in mind if you throw up and miss the can I'm going to make you clean it yourself," she told him quietly. It was meant as a joke, but she could hear the emotionless tone of her own voice. It sounded weird even to her. But the only way she could keep from breaking down was to bottle the emotions up until they she could get him to tell her what was going on.

“Why are you doing this, Chloe?” Oliver asked. He kept his head on his lap, but shifted so he could look at her as she continued rubbing his back. “What is it going to take for you to realize that I’m not worth your time?” He knew she was stubborn but this was too much. He’d hurt her, he’d lied to her, he’d broken the one promise she’d asked him to make and she was still sitting there trying to take care of him. He didn’t deserve her and she had to know that on some level.

Maybe Hal and Tess were right and it was time to tell her the truth. Maybe then she would finally understand what kind of a man he was. He forced himself to sit up again, ignoring the nausea and the stabbing in his skull. Oliver met Chloe’s eyes and nearly lost his nerve when his chest tightened to the point where it hurt to take a breath. But he had to do this. It was the only way. “You asked me earlier how I knew that it wasn’t Desmond who was killing those women. It can’t be him because he’s dead, Chloe. I killed him.”

Chloe couldn't help the shock that crossed her features briefly as her hand stayed on his back, but stopped moving. Seconds later her brows furrowed as she tried to wrap her mind around Oliver's words. He killed someone? No...that wasn't right. He wouldn't do that. Something didn't make sense, even on his worst day Chloe couldn't see Oliver maliciously killing anyone, not even someone like Desmond. She needed more thank that.  
  
Her eyes bore into his as she spoke. "How?" She asked quietly, "I want the circumstances surrounding it and before you say anything yes, it does matter Oliver." She told him her body tense wondering if he was going to tell her the truth as she tried to wrap her head around the fact that the man she loved had killed someone. That was a big confession, but Chloe refused to make any observations or judgments until she knew the whole story.

“She’s right, Oliver,” Tess said from the doorway where she stood holding the coffee she had poured for him. She walked into the room just in time to hear Oliver’s confession but she’d waited for Chloe to react before she’d said anything. But she wasn’t just going to stand there and let him get away with telling Chloe his version of that night because his mind had twisted the truth. “Maybe you should start with the part where you didn’t actually kill him,” she suggested.

Oliver glared at her. “He’s dead because of me, Tess. As far as I’m concerned I killed him,” he snapped. He couldn’t believe she was doing this to him. He had finally decided to tell Chloe the truth and Tess was attempting to spin it like she had done all these years.

“Desmond drowned, Oliver,” Tess countered. She set the coffee down on the table before she threw it against the wall in frustration. “He almost killed me and he would have killed you too if you’d caved to his demands.” She turned away from Oliver and met Chloe’s confused gaze. “He did not kill him,” she said firmly.

Hal stood beside Tess and leaning against the wall and shook his head. Chloe glanced between Tess and Oliver before her eyes settled on the red head. "I know he didn't kill anyone," she said before turning to Oliver. "Despite what he says I _know_ him and he wouldn't kill anyone," Chloe paused and saw him getting ready to protest so she cut him off and looked back at Tess. "Though I wasn't going to say that because he'd immediately deny it and insist he did it." She said before glaring back at Oliver.   
  
Chloe took a deep breath her gaze never wavering from his. "I want the truth. The *entire* truth and I will judge for myself whether or not I think you're guilty." She told him. "And I mean it Oliver or so help me god I'll have Hal chain handcuff you to the bed for as long as it takes to get you to realize you're being a jackass." She said pointedly. "And knowing you that would be a pretty long time."  
  
Hal couldn't help the snicker that left his throat as he moved forward and held out the tylenol and water bottle to Oliver. "I'd listen to her if I were you, she seems like she might be that crazy type to lock a man up without sustenance or something."

Oliver took the water and the pills from Hal and glared at his friend. “I’m glad you’re all so amused by this.” He tossed four pills into his mouth and swallowed half the bottle in one long gulp before tossing it aside and turning his glare on Tess. “Are you sure you don’t want to tell the story? You seem to remember it differently than I do and Chloe will probably like your version better,” he sneered.

Tess stepped forward and slapped him hard enough to make his head jerk from side to side. She ignored the pain in her hand as she leaned down so that she was at eye level with him. “I had to stand there and watch them pump your stomach and put a breathing tube in your nose last time, Oliver. If you think I’m going to watch you slowly try to kill yourself again, then you are in for a shock. Stop being such a coward and tell Chloe the whole story,” she ordered. Tess sat down in the chair across from him, crossing her arms over her chest as she willed her body not to shake. She was tired and she was angry and she was sick of seeing the people she cared about it pain.

Oliver swallowed hard, shame crossing his features as he watched Tess. He remembered how scared she’d been and how she’d begged him not to leave them. His mind flashed to Chloe begging him to stay with her and the guilt was overwhelming. He nodded at Tess and then shifted on the couch so he was facing Chloe. “After Desmond killed everyone at the lab, Hal and I were doing everything we could to track him down, but he was always one step ahead of us. Then he kidnapped Tess. He knew we were close and that I would come after her if he took her. He was expecting Oliver Queen and Green Arrow showed up instead.”

He leaned back against the couch, keeping his eyes on Chloe’s as he relayed the story. “Desmond had poisoned her and he had her tied up on his boat. She was barely breathing when I found her. Hal took her to the hospital and I stayed to look for Desmond. There was a storm that night and he’d set the boat on fire.” Oliver swallowed hard as the images from his nightmare once again mixed in with reality. “We fought and he told me that he was never going to stop until everyone who’d ever crossed him was dead. He told me he had this perfect poison and he was going to release it into the water supply. He was so crazy that he didn’t even realize how close the fire was to us. I grabbed him and pulled him over the side with me.”

Oliver’s breathing was getting shallower as he remembered falling into the cold water and the rain pounding down on them. He’d lost his grip on Desmond when they’d hit the water and he’d tried to find him, but it had been so dark and he’d kept getting turned around. “I heard him yelling a few minutes later. As much as he loved boats, he didn’t know how to swim. The current was strong and the storm…I knew he wouldn’t make it on his own. I started to get him and then I remembered what he’d done to Tess and to his coworkers and his threat to kill people just to prove he could.” His voice shook, but he forced himself to keep his eyes on Chloe’s. “I left him there. I let him die.”

Chloe could see him waiting for her reaction, but she kept her face completely neutral as she digested his story. All the guilt suddenly made so much more sense. Her heart went out to him as she saw the pain on his face. He truly believed he was a murderer. She reached out, took his hand and threaded her fingers through his, holding it tightly so as not to let him pull his hand from hers.  
  
All this time he'd been living with this dark cloud looming over him, thinking it would changed the way she saw him and the truth was this only made her love him more. To go through something like that and come back from it, it couldn't have been easy. She took a deep breath and made sure she was looking right at him when she spoke. "I love you," she said softly and before he could interrupt her she placed a finger over his lips.  
  
"Oliver the act of killing someone is to take their life with you own two hands. You made a choice. Was it the right was? The wrong one? I can't tell you." She said as she cupped his cheek. "No one can tell you because no one was there in the end aside from you." She said searching his eyes.  
  
"A killer feels no mercy...no guilt. Have you looked at yourself in the mirror? Every day since then I'd imagine that you've been trying to make amends for that split second decision. And _that_ is what makes you different from a killer." She told him matter of factly. "This...mistake, this misstep, it only makes me love you so much more Oliver."   
  
She brought her other hand up so she was gripping both of his cheeks so he couldn't look away as tears pooled in her eyes. "You're still the same man I met and fell in love with expect now you're not perfect, which you know I've been wondering about," she said lightly trying to break the tension in his body as her face softened.  
  
"I love you because of the imperfections Oliver, not despite of them. You mean everything to me, I wouldn't be here if you didn't...and _nothing_ will ever change that...do you hear me?" She asked emotion filling her voice as teary eyes stared at him.

“Chloe…” Oliver didn’t know what to say. He’d just told her the whole story and she was still telling him that she loved him. He didn’t understand. Another sharp pain shot through his head and he doubled over for a minute. Chloe’s hands were still on his face and he could feel the tension in her body. He pushed aside the pain, straightening up quickly to meet her eyes again. “I’m sorry, Chloe, I’m so sorry,” he whispered, practically choking on the words as he moved closer to her.

He wanted to take her in his arms, but Oliver wasn’t sure he had the right to do that anymore despite the reassuring words he heard. Maybe she needed time to process it. Or maybe she didn’t understand. Tess and Hal didn’t understand. They were always telling him that it wasn’t his fault too. They were all wrong.

“Don’t you see?” he asked. “I let him die and now someone is coming after the victims’ families and sending me boat memorabilia like a calling card.” Oliver’s voice was low; he was so tired he didn’t even know if he was making sense. “Chloe, this wouldn’t be happening if I hadn’t let him die. Maybe I didn’t hold his head under the water with my own hands but I might as well have. I’m not a hero, Chloe. I failed,” he whispered. A wave of dizziness hit him and Oliver pitched forward, landing against Chloe. He couldn’t stop himself from reaching out and wrapping his arm around her waist as he let his head fall into her lap, muttering incoherent apologies as his eyes drifted closed.

Hal stood near Tess and wrapped his arm around her waist tugging her towards him as he watched Oliver break down and cling to Chloe. His chest tightened his heart clenching as he watched them. Maybe Tess had been right to tell Chloe, at least Oliver wasn't pushing her away. He let his hand rest on Tess's hip and pressed a kiss to the side of her head as he held her close and watched the blonde across from them.  
  
Chloe held Oliver close to her as she bent her head down and pressed several kisses to the top on his head, her hands stroking up and down his body wherever she could reach. Her heart broke for him. She could feel the tears building in her eyes, but she did her best to not let them fall knowing she had to be strong for Oliver.  
  
"It's okay Ollie...we're going to figure this out, we're going to get who's ever doing this I promise. And I'm not going anywhere. I'm here...Always," she whispered against his head and aced another kiss there. She knew he was nowhere near okay, but at least he was there in her arms letting her comfort him and that was a start.

Tess wiped tears from her eyes and turned her face into Hal’s side. She knew he was probably still mad at her, but she took comfort in his arms. Maybe they would find a way to get through this after all. She knew she’d been right about Chloe. Oliver still had a long way to go before he would be anywhere near okay, but this was a start.

“I’m so tired, Chloe,” Oliver said. He tried to lift his head so he could look at her, but he felt like it weighed a ton. His whole body felt like it was shutting down and he didn’t know how much longer he’d be able to keep himself conscious. But there was something he needed to say to Chloe before he passed out.

Ignoring the pain, he forced himself to sit up the best he could and meet her eyes. “I love you, Chloe.” His voice shook and Oliver reached out, cupping her cheek in his hand. “I love you,” he said again. His eyes rolled back in his head and he slumped over, falling against the back of the couch as he lost consciousness.


	8. Chapter 8

Tess groaned as she felt herself pulling out of a deep sleep. She buried her face in the pillow, trying desperately to drift off again but she knew it was no use. Her mind was already waking up and the light that was streaming in through the blinds wasn’t helping her case. She groaned again and opened one eye to look at the clock on the bedside table.

It was just after ten in the morning. By the time Hal had helped Chloe get Oliver into bed and they’d driven back to Coast City it had been almost four in the morning. Tess had wanted to talk but Hal told her it was late and they needed to get some sleep before either of them was ready to have a conversation. It had been a valid point and she had gotten into bed while he jumped in the shower. Tess didn’t remember falling asleep.  
      
She lifted her head off the pillow and saw that Hal’s side of the bed was empty. Tess pushed the covers aside and made her way into the bathroom. She brushed her teeth, washed her face and decided she still looked like hell but it was going to have to do. She ran a brush through her hair and then headed for the kitchen to see if Hal had put on a pot of coffee. “Hal?” she called. He wasn’t in the living room or the kitchen so she tried the balcony. He wasn’t there either. Tess noticed his keys were gone from the counter where he’d tossed them but his cell phone was still sitting there.

Her first thought was that Chloe or Oliver had called but Tess knew he would have woken her up if that was the case or at the very least he would have left a note. He wasn’t working because he had the day off since there was some kind of presentation at the airfield and the manager had asked him to stay away. Hal had been pissed off about it until he realized that it was a day off with pay and he didn’t have to pretend to be nice to people he didn’t like. So where was he?

Tess forgot all about the coffee she’d wanted as she made another trip through the apartment looking for a note she might have missed. Panic welled in her chest when she didn’t find anything. It wasn’t like Hal to just disappear without telling her especially after everything that had happened with Oliver the night before. But there was no denying that he wasn’t in the apartment and he hadn’t given her any indication of where he might be.

Tess swallowed hard as she sank down onto the couch. Maybe now that they knew Oliver was okay, or as okay as he was going to be for the time being, Hal was back to being mad at her. It wasn’t like they’d had a chance to magically work out all their issues while their best friend was falling apart.

Tears sprang up in the corners of her eyes and Tess stared down at the engagement ring on her finger. She remembered how happy she’d been the day Hal had given it to her. She’d thought things were finally going to be good again after all the bad stuff that had happened with Lex.

Instead, everything seemed to be falling apart and now Hal was gone. A few tears slipped down her cheeks just as she heard the sound of keys jangling in the door. Her head shot up in surprise as the door opened. “Hal?” she called quietly, almost afraid to hope he was actually coming home.

Hal pushed open the door, ear buds in his ears as he rolled his neck back and forth shutting the door quietly behind him. The music was loud in his ears, but he didn’t car. He was trying to drown out the world. He had woken that morning before seven. He lay in bed for a while, but finally had to do something with all the excess energy in his body so he’d gone for a run. He had seen Tess sleeping out decided not to wake her figuring he’d be back before she woke up.

The jog hadn’t cleared his head nearly as much as he would have liked it to. Oliver was home and alcohol free for the moment, but he knew that he and Tess still needed to talk. Hal just wasn’t sure what to say. He loved Tess more than anything in the world, but he was more than a little hurt that she’d gone behind his back with the whole telling Chloe thing. Even if it was possible that it might have been the right call.

He wasn’t even sure anymore. One thing he was sure of though, was that Tess has told him one thing and did another and that was something they needed to talk about. He sighed and walked down the hallway starting to head towards the bedroom when he caught sight of his fiancé in the living room. Hal arched an eyebrow, his brow furrowing as he pulled the ear bud from his iPod out of his ear. “Tess? What are you doing?” He asked confused as he walked into the living room, shirtless and in a pair of jogging pants.

“I didn’t know where you were,” Tess said. Her eyes trailed over him and she was momentarily distracted by his abs and the layer of sweat glistening on his skin. She ran her tongue over her bottom lip and wondered if maybe all they needed was a long, hot shower. Tess shook her head to try and clear away her thoughts. The physical part of their relationship was not a problem. It had never been a problem. But apparently he had issues trusting her and Tess knew some of that was her fault. 

“You didn’t leave a note or anything and I wasn’t sure why,” Tess said as she moved her gaze away from his body and back to his face. “You said that we would talk in the morning and I woke up and you were gone.” She let the implication hang in the air, not wanting to come right out and tell him that she’d been scared he’d changed his mind about everything and walked out on her. It wasn’t like she really thought he was capable of that but Tess hadn’t realized how many issues he seemed to have with her personality so she didn’t really know what to think anymore.

Hal arched an eyebrow and pursed his lips. “So what, you thought I just took off?” He shook his head, his frown deepening. “Thanks for that vote of confidence,” He tried not to let the words get to him, but it was hard. He said with a sigh. He knew things weren’t exactly great between them at the moment, but he had no idea she thought so little of him. He shut off his iPod, tossed it aside and made his way towards the kitchen. He glanced over his shoulder as he moved around the kitchen. “I went for a jog to clear my head. I thought I’d be back before you woke up, but apparently I wasn’t.” He said while pulling a glass out of the cabinet.

Well this conversation was off to a great start, Tess thought. She sighed, pushing herself up off the chair and followed him into the kitchen. “I’m sorry, okay? It has been a long few days, I haven’t had much sleep and I panicked when you weren’t here. You normally leave a note,” she pointed out. Tess leaned against the island, crossing her arms over her chest as she watched him moving around the kitchen. “Hal, you’re the one who basically told me that you can’t trust me anymore so don’t stand there and get indignant with me because I got scared.”

Tess hated this. She felt like there was a wall between them and every time they talked they just added layers to it. Communication had never been a problem between them before. They’d had their share of fights over the years but they usually just threw their cards on the table, screamed for awhile and then got over it. She didn’t really know where they were supposed to go from here. “Did the jog help you?” she asked.

“I didn’t leave a note because I forgot about it okay?” He said while shaking his head. “No, it didn’t,” He was tired of fighting with her especially with everything going on, but he wasn’t angry with her. “I hate how you always think you know what’s best for people.” He pointed out before stopping what he was doing and focusing on his attention on her.

She looked upset and he could see the worry mixed with hurt in her eyes. “You shouldn’t have told Chloe,” he said lightly while shifting to the table and plopping down in one of the chairs. He pushed the other one out and motioned for her to sit. “It’s not that you told her Tess, it’s that you said you wouldn’t and then did. We can’t come to a mutual decision and then you decide it no longer works so you do what you think is best…that’s not how things work and I thought you understood that.” He said quietly.

“I never thought it was a good idea to keep her in the dark. I told you that Oliver used a guilt trip to get me to agree,” Tess reminded him. She took the seat he pulled out for her even though the last thing she wanted to do was sit down. But she wasn’t going to pick a fight with Hal over that too. “I know that’s not the point,” she said when Hal opened his mouth.

She knew the incident with Chloe had just been a catalyst for Hal to get his feelings out. “Hal, I don’t understand why you’re just bringing this up now if it’s something you’ve always had a problem with. I don’t think I’m right all the time and you have a right to be angry with me for breaking the promise I made but I didn’t want to see Oliver end up like he did last night.”

Hal frowned and shook his head. “Stop bringing up Oliver okay?” He said quietly. “This isn’t about him.” He ran his hand through his hair trying to figure out a way to explain what he was feeling. “I have done a lot of things that I don’t agree with for you.” He told her pointedly. “I don’t want to be one of those guys who is constantly throwing stuff in your face, that’s not me.” He said as he glanced up and met her eyes.

“I make compromises because that’s what we do for the people we love. One thing I asked you for. One tiny thing. The least you could have done is given me a heads up after you told her or something…anything. Do you get why I’m mad?” He asked. “It’s not about whether or not it was right to tell Chloe or whether or not it helped. It’s about the fact that you looked at me, promised you’d keep this to yourself and then went and told her because she came to you upset.” He said lightly as he avoided her gaze.

The fact that he wouldn’t look at her hurt worse than his words did. “I know why you’re mad, Hal,” Tess said. She’d known from the moment she pointed Chloe in the right direction that Hal was going to be mad at her and that he was going to feel like she was betraying him. But she’d done it anyway because it had been the right thing to do. Or at least she thought it had been at the time. Hal was right though. This wasn’t about Oliver or even Chloe and his issues obviously went deeper than just this one time. That was what was hurting _her_ and he couldn’t seem to see that. 

“You’re telling me that you’re okay with compromise and you don’t want to throw anything in my face, but that’s exactly what you’re doing. You’ve obviously been holding onto things for awhile if you can sit there and tell me that I always think I know what’s best for everyone. No one is forcing you to be with me if everything is such a struggle for you to give me what you think I want,” Tess pointed out. She couldn’t keep the hurt out of her voice.

Hal looked up and glared at her. “Why do you have to do that?” He asked sharply. “If I didn’t want to be with you Tess, guess what I wouldn’t be here. I don’t know why you have to automatically jump to saying stupid shit like no one’s forcing me to be here.” He said while frowning at her.

“And I wasn’t throwing things in your face if I wanted to do that I could have brought up Metropolis and everything that followed along with that,” He said while shaking his head. “I don’t mind compromising, but I don’t want to be the only one in this relationship that compromises.” He paused and then pursed his lips before speaking. “I hated you coming out as a Luthor but I went along with it because you thought it was important and you wanted to do it and I love you so I stood by your side even though I didn’t agree with it.” He told her his voice slightly irritated.

“I knew you didn’t want to keep things from Chloe, but I figured me asking you to would be enough for you to not do it, but apparently it wasn’t and I’m sorry that, that bothers me. You keep acting like the hurt party here, but it hurts me to know that my asking you to do something for me doesn’t mean as much as when you ask me.” He said softly as his chest tightened. “That might sound ridiculous, but it’s how I feel and after everything we’ve been through recently…I don’t know. I just thought you could give me this one thing.”

“I didn’t realize you’re the only one who gets to have hurt feelings in this relationship. Maybe you should make me a list of do’s and don’ts so I can stop irritating you every time I open my mouth,” Tess suggested bitterly. She pushed her chair back from the table and got up, needing to move around before she started screaming. She should have known Hal would bring up what happened in Metropolis. That was forever going to be his trump card; that he’d been right and she’d been wrong and had nearly gotten herself killed. It was the same excuse he was always using for the reason he refused to give Chloe a chance. But if he wanted to dwell on that for the rest of his life, that was his problem.

The rest of it was her problem. Tess knew Hal was right. She never should have said anything to Chloe because she’d promised him she wouldn’t. Not only had she’d done it anyway, but the whole thing had blown up in their faces and she still hadn’t apologized to him for breaking his trust. Maybe it was because she knew there was no apology strong enough to do that. Tess stopped in front of the terrace doors and stared out at the ocean in the distance. She thought about that night when Desmond had kidnapped her and how scared she’d been that she’d never see Hal again. Her eyes drifted down to the ring on her finger and the familiar lump rose in her throat.

“I’m sorry, Hal,” she said. Tess turned around, but didn’t make any move to go back into the kitchen. “I know I hurt you and I was wrong. It doesn’t matter if I thought I was doing the right thing. I never should have gone against what we talked about and I hope that someday you can forgive me.” Her hand flew to her mouth as she choked on a sob.

Hal sighed and shook his head as he watched her, his heart clenching. He hadn’t meant to make her cry. Now he felt guilty for being angry and he hated that. He pushed himself slowly out of the chair and walked over to her stopping just in front of her. He pulled her into his arms and rubbed her back lightly not saying anything until she calmed down a bit.

He pulled back a minute later and tilted her chin up so he could meet her eyes. “I hate this. I hate fighting with you, but what I hate more is you making me feel guilty for being angry with you,” He said quietly, but the irritation from earlier was gone. He saw her open her mouth and he placed a finger over it. “Don’t. Let me talk. I love you Tess. I’m more in love with you then I’ve ever been with anyone in my life. Me being angry at you for something you did isn’t going to change that.” He told her matter of factly. “When you get angry, I let you yell and throw things and get it out and then most times I apologize and everything is fine.” He said as he slid his hands down her arms resting them near her elbows.

“Why can’t you do the same for me? You have to know after everything we’ve been through over the past five years you making one mistake isn’t going to make me leave you, but I get to be mad and I hate that I’m standing here right now feeling guilty because I upset you so much when really all you had to do was let me get it off my chest and then apologize and I would have gotten over it.” He said before shaking his head.

“People fight, it’s healthy. Am I pissed that you told me you wouldn’t tell her and then did? Yeah. Am I going to call off our wedding and leave you because of something like that? Of course not. That would be the stupidest thing I ever did. But you need to let me get angry. Because if I don’t then everything just festers and it’ll be worse in the end.” He said softly.

“I love you, but sometimes you make me furious,” He told her as he cupped her cheeks, “Just like sometimes I’m sure I make you furious too.” He said as he met her eyes. “I get that you’re upset that I’m angry at you, but Red, it’s really unfair to make me feel bad for being mad.”

Tess swallowed the lump in her throat and forced herself to stop crying. Hal was right. He was allowed to be upset and angry and she hadn’t meant to make him feel guilty for having feelings. She felt like no matter what she said now he was just going to tell her that it was fine and they would be fine.

But she wasn’t so sure anymore. In all the time they’d been together, she’d never felt this disconnected from him and it scared her. “I’ll work on that,” she said quietly. Tess didn’t care what she had to do; she would change everything about herself if he wanted her to. She loved him too much to risk losing him over a stupid fight.

“Hal, I love you too.” Tess wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed a kiss to his lips. “I’m sorry I made you feel guilty for being angry. I don’t ever want you to feel like you can’t tell me things. What can I do to make this up to you?” she asked. Tess could hear the desperation in her voice but she didn’t care. She wanted to make things right anyway she could.

Hal sighed and held her tighter rubbing her back. He hated that he was making her so upset. That had never been his intention. “Just apologize and next time if you plan on doing the opposite of what we talked about at least give me a heads up…it helps with the damage control,” He joked lightly as he pressed a kiss to the side of her head. “Look…I’m still angry, just give me a little time okay?” He asked softly.

“This isn’t the worst thing we’ve been through Tess, and it’s certainly not the last fight we’re going to have,” He said as he pulled back and cupped her cheeks. “Hopefully we’ll be fighting for the rest of our lives,” He said softly while giving her a small smile. “It’s when the fighting stops that we should be worried…” He leaned forward and pressed a light kiss against her lips. When he pulled back he watched her for a minute, his hands resting on her hips. “I’m going to go hop in the shower…okay?”

Tess nodded. She knew he was right. Fighting was a healthy part of any relationship and as long as they were fighting they were still trying and that was all that mattered. “Okay,” she said. “I’m going to tell you that I’m sorry again because I really am.” Tess stared into his eyes wanting him to see how serious she was. “But if you want to be angry for awhile longer, I’m not going to hold that against you. Take as much time as you want…and that’s not me being bossy or thinking I know everything,” she added. The last thing Tess wanted was for him to think she was trying to dictate his feelings.  
  
“However, I do have one little question about this anger of yours,” she said. Tess pressed a kiss to his jaw as she let her hand slide down over his chest to his stomach. “Is it the kind of anger where you need time to yourself?” She kissed his neck as she lightly ran her fingers over his skin, skimming the waistband of his pants. “Or is it the kind of anger where you’re mad but you wouldn’t be opposed to having some company in the shower?” She raised her head from his neck and arched an eyebrow.

Hal hesitated for a minute and slid his hand down her back while sending her a small grin. “When have I ever turned down a shower with you?” He asked as he tugged her closer. “I’m still angry,” He said wanting her to know that a shower wasn’t going to fix everything, that only time would. “But that doesn’t mean I don’t love you...and that I can’t use some help washing my back,” He said with a smirk as he sent a wink in her direction.

He slid his hand down until he got to her hand and threaded their fingers together as he walked towards their bedroom tugging her gently with him.

 

______

 

It was just after four in the afternoon when Oliver stumbled out of bed, grabbing the headboard to steady himself before he ended up on the floor. He had a vague recollection of Chloe waking him up periodically and giving him aspirin and he figured that was the only reason he didn’t have the normal throbbing headache that followed a two-day binge. His muscles were sore and his face hurt as he limped toward the master bathroom.

Oliver flipped on the light switch, regretting immediately when he caught sight of his reflection. His face was still swollen, his eyes were bloodshot, and he desperately needed a shower and a shave. He slowly made his way to the shower, turned the dial to hot and stripped off his clothes, making a mental note to burn them later.

He stood under the spray, letting the water rain down on him as he tried to put the pieces of the last few days together. Oliver remembered fighting with Chloe and storming out. He remembered listening to her crying and pleading with him as he stood in the elevator. His memories were hazy after that. Hal had brought him home. Tess had slapped him. Chloe had told him that she loved him and she wouldn’t leave him. Oliver remembered clinging to her as he told her that he was a failure.  
  
She knew about Desmond. More pieces of the night came back to him as he recalled telling her the entire story. She didn’t hate him and she didn’t blame him. Oliver didn’t understand how she couldn’t see that he wasn’t the hero he’d been trying to convince everyone, including himself, that he was. Desmond was dead because he’d made a choice not to save him. Who was he to play God like that?  
  
After awhile, the water started to turn colder so Oliver shut it off and wrapped a towel around his waist. He brushed his teeth three times in an attempt to get the disgusting taste out of his mouth and then he shaved the best he could around the bruises on his face. His skin was still pale and the dark circles under his eyes probably weren’t going anywhere for awhile but it was a small improvement. He went back into the bedroom and pulled on a clean pair of boxers and a t-shirt before making his way down the hall to search for Chloe.

Chloe stood in the kitchen staring at the oven arms wrapped around herself. She was exhausted. She couldn’t remember the last time she actually slept. She had no clue what time it was, not that she really cared. It wasn’t like she had anywhere to go or anything to do. The searches were still running through the system looking into Desmond’s background and checking the newsfeed for more murders. She had called the guys about an hour ago to check in and make sure they were all on the rotating schedule she sent them, which of course they diligently were.

She had left Tess a message earlier telling her Oliver was sleeping things off and so far things were as okay as they could be and she’d call back if anything changed. After that there hadn’t been much for her to do. Chloe hated not having something to keep herself busy. It left her too much time to think and wallow and neither of those were productive things to do. The timer on the oven beeped and she forced her body to move forward and open it.

After cleaning the apartment, rearranging the furniture in the living room, office and who knew how many other rooms she decided that when Oliver finally did wake up he was going to need some food in his system. So she’d attempted to make him something. The first three tried hadn’t gone well and she burnt everything. She was really hoping that try number four would be the magic number. Chloe got an oven mit and pulled out the casserole dish full of lasagna. She glanced down at it and though it looked lopsided and cheese was oozing out of the noodles on the side, at least it wasn’t burnt.

She put it on top of the stove and when a whiff of it came her way the smell was so rich that it made her stomach roll. Chloe pressed her hands against the counter and sighed. She had no clue what she was doing. How was she going to help Oliver fix what was wrong? How was she going to make him feel better? Because she honestly had no idea. She sucked in a deep breath and let it out slowly as she walked over to the coffee maker and poor the last of her third pot into a mug. She stood there back facing the door to the kitchen as she stared at the mug in her hand while trying to fit back the tears that had been threatening to come since Oliver broke down in her arms.

Oliver checked the office first. He saw the computers were running several searches but he didn’t want to look any closer than that. He headed into the living room, blinking in surprise when he saw that all of the furniture had been rearranged. He briefly wondered if Hal and Tess were still there, but something told him Chloe had done all of this herself.

Sighing, Oliver ran a hand through his wet hair and walked toward the kitchen. He figured Chloe was probably making more coffee. As he got closer, the smell of food wafted through the air and his stomach growled loudly. Aside from pills and alcohol, Oliver couldn’t remember the last time he’d put anything into his stomach. No wonder each step seemed painful.  
  
He saw Chloe standing near the counter with a mug of coffee in her hands. She must not have heard him and Oliver stood there for a moment, watching her. His heart clenched in his chest when he thought about all the pain he’d put her through the past few days. He knew it was even longer than that and he hated himself for hurting her. He didn’t deserve her and Oliver still thought she would realize that one day. But the selfish part of him was grateful that she was there because he wasn’t sure he’d be able to survive without her. The thought scared him and he pushed it aside as he cleared his throat. “I like what you’ve done with the place,” he said lightly.

Oliver’s voice startled her and she immediately blinked away the tears before taking a sip of her coffee and turning around to face him. She gave him a small smile and shrugged. “I got bored…You know me. Idle hands and all…” She knew she’d said that to him before and it was the truth. She didn’t like not being busy. She couldn’t cope if there was nothing to do. She pushed away from the counter and motioned for him to sit down as she walked towards the refrigerator and pulled it open. “I made you some food. I figured you could probably use some.” She said lightly as she took out a bottle of water and then moved to the freezer and grabbed an ice pack.

She turned and placed the bottle of water and ice pack down in front of him on the kitchen island. “Why don’t you sit? I’ll make a plate for you,” She said softly as she put her coffee down and busied herself with doling out some lasagna for him. “It’s a little messy, but I’m almost positive it’s edible.” She said attempting a joke as she swallowed hard. “Were you able to get some rest?”

“I think so but I don’t really remember,” Oliver replied. He hated the awkward tension between them especially since he had no idea how to fix it. He sat down and picked up the ice pack, holding it against his cheek as he watched her cutting the lasagna. “You didn’t have to do this, Chloe. You’ve already done enough for me,” he said quietly.  
  
Oliver studied her face the best he could with her head down as she concentrated on the task in front of her. She looked like she’d been crying again and she obviously hadn’t slept. Oliver wished there was something he could do for her but he had no idea where to start. Considering the effort it was taking just to keep the ice pack on his face, Oliver doubted he would be useful to her even if he did have some idea as to how to fix things between them. He couldn’t believe how quickly he had managed to decimate both of their lives.

“It’s not a big deal. It’s just lasagna.” She said as she brought the plate over to him and gave him half a smile. “Do you want some bread?” She asked before waving him off. “Of course you do. You can’t have lasagna without bread.” She said like it was the silliest question in the world. She moved back over to the counter and cut a piece of bread from the Italian loaf that she’d bought earlier when she ran to the store.

Her chest tightened at the guilt she could still see on his face. She had no idea what to do to make it go away. She wished there was some kind of magic solution to everything, but there wasn’t and now that he was sober and more lucid than he had been in days, Chloe had no clue where they went from here. She walked back over and placed the bread next to him. “There.” She said as she stood across from him and lifted her coffee to her lips, taking a long sip.

“Thank you,” Oliver said. He brought a forkful of lasagna to his mouth and chewed slowly, doing his best to reacquaint his body with food. He swallowed it and reached for the water she’d set in front of him earlier. “This is really good. Thank you,” he said again. He gave her a small smile before he lowered his eyes to his plate again and continued eating. He felt like he should say something, maybe apologize again but he didn’t know where to start.

Oliver hated that he had done this to her and to their relationship. He’d done a lot of stupid things in his life and he had more regrets than he could count, but hurting Chloe was the hardest thing for him to deal with. He loved her so much and he wondered if there was any chance for them to get back what he’d broken.

Chloe gave him a small smile. “I’m glad you like it,” She said softly before turning her eyes back to her coffee. She wasn’t sure what to say. She was afraid of saying or doing something that would set him off and make him leave again, though she was pretty sure in his condition he wouldn’t get too far. She couldn’t stand still anymore and so she pushed herself away from the island, finished the last of the coffee in her cup and then moved over to the sink to wash it.

Chloe turned on the water, took the sponge and started washing the glass, the repetitive motion calming her down slightly. “So how are you feeling?” She asked lightly, “Any better than yesterday?” The words seemed silly, but she wasn’t sure what else to ask him. Things between her and Oliver had always been so easy, so comfortable. And now it was tense and awkward and she was scared of doing the wrong thing. She wished she knew what was going through his head; it might give her a better idea of where to start mending bridges with him.

“Yeah,” Oliver replied. He watched her back for a moment wondering if she was just anxious or if it was too hard for her to look at him. His chest tightened and the familiar need for a drink crept up on him. Oliver shoved it aside and reached for the water instead. “That aspirin helped. Thanks,” he said. Oliver concentrated on eating for a few minutes and tried to ignore the way his stomach was churning. He knew Chloe would just worry more if he didn’t eat.  
  
The silence between them was like torture and he didn’t know what to do. Oliver knew they couldn’t just sit there and talk about the weather like they were strangers or act like nothing was wrong and make idle chit chat either. She was still standing at the sink even though she had already washed the mug out four times. “Chloe, you should sit down and eat something. You need to take care of yourself too and not just worry about me,” he told her.

Chloe swallowed hard at his words her eyes burning slightly and she silently cursed herself. She needed to be strong for him. He was in no place to be attempting to comfort her. She needed to be there for him to lean on, but it had been so long since he showed any kind of concern for her that his words made her want to cry. Chloe had never been the type to be overly affectionate or in need of constant attention, but ever since she and Oliver had gotten together, she’d grown accustomed to all the attention he paid her and these past couple of weeks with him had been hard.

She felt alone, scared, and in need of some human contact. She hated that she was so weak and that she depended on him so much. Chloe used to do everything herself, but then she met him and he’d wormed his way into her heart, which made her start leaning on him more and depending on him more. And now...she just felt so alone. Chloe took a deep breath and let it out slowly before pushing down her emotions and drying the cup before putting it in the cabinet. “I’m fine Ollie, I’m not really hungry.” She told him before finally turning around and studying his face.

“I’m glad you’re feeling a little better. Is there anything you need? Anything I can get you or do?”  She asked needing to feel useful and keep herself busy. She was running out of things to do and that wasn’t good.

Disappointed, Oliver just shook his head and filled his fork with more food. He felt completely useless and the fact that he couldn’t even get her to sit down beside him and eat something bothered him. He wasn’t sure what was going through Chloe’s head. He knew she was scared for him; that much was written all over her face. But he didn’t know how she felt or what she was thinking or where the hell they were supposed to go from here and he couldn’t help the overwhelming sense of loss that washed over him. Chloe was less than two feet away from him but the distance between them felt much greater than that.

He finished his food and got up slowly, carrying the plate to the sink. “I can do it,” he told Chloe when he sensed that she was about to protest. Oliver didn’t want her to feel like she needed to wait on him hand and foot. She’d already done more than enough and it was his own fault that he was in this condition. He rinsed off the plate and fork and bent down to put them in the dishwasher. A stabbing pain shot through his head and the room spun around him. Oliver let out a shaky breath as he steadied himself against the counter. He really needed to get his balance back soon.

Oliver straightened up and turned back to Chloe. He could see the fear and uncertainty in her eyes mixed with obvious concern for him. “I think I’m going to get some fresh air. On the balcony,” he added quickly so she didn’t think he was trying to leave again. “Do you want to come with me?” He hesitated for a moment and then held his hand out to her.

Chloe's body went rigid at his words, but relief filled her face immediately at his offer. She took his hand without hesitating. "Yes," she said softly and she couldn't help the tears that prickled at the corner of her eyes. Chloe was happy and more than a little relieved that he didn't seem to want to get away from her. That was something. 

She leaned into him slightly, not wanting to add too much extra pressure to his body knowing he wasn't exactly steady and walked with him through the living room out onto the balcony.  
  
A light breeze blowing as they made there way towards the railing. She paused beside him and pressed a light kiss to his shoulder, but stayed silent.

Oliver watched the water lapping against the shore for a few minutes. It was easier to breathe outside and having Chloe close to him again made everything seem better even if she wasn’t saying anything. He held onto the railing in front of him with one hand, not trusting his balance and wrapped his other arm around her as he pulled her further into his frame. Oliver pressed a kiss to the top of her head and tried to swallow the flood of emotions that was threatening to overtake him. He didn’t want to upset Chloe anymore than he already had, but he couldn’t take another minute of silence.

“I’m sorry,” he told her. “I know that probably doesn’t mean much right now. I don’t expect you to forgive me for any of this. But in spite of the way that I’ve been acting, I need you, Chloe. I thought I was doing the right thing.” Oliver stopped and shook his head, ignoring the throbbing the movement caused. “That’s not true,” he corrected himself. There was no point in lying anymore. “I knew I was drowning but I didn’t care because I didn’t want you to be sorry that you were with me. Ironic, right?” he muttered.  

Tears pooled in Chloe's eyes as she moved back slightly and glanced up at him, the emotions she'd been attempting to shove aside bubbling up to the surface. She opened her mouth to say something and a small sob burst from her lips. She couldn't help the onslaught of tears that flowed from her eyes. She took a step back and shook her head as she held up a hand and spoke between her tears, her words slightly muffled from the crying.  
  
"I'm sorry," irritation filled her at the fact that she couldn't hold it together. She felt horrible. She was supposed to be there for him, helping him through this and she couldn't seem to stop blubbering like a baby. She hesitated before taking a step closer and placing her hands on his arms, the action only seeming to make the tears come faster.  
  
"I'm not mad," she whispered as she met his eyes. "I'm scared. I'm worried...I," she paused sucking in a deep breath to calm herself down. "I don't want to upset you," she told him quietly. "I'm not sorry I'm with you I love you...So much." She said swallowing hard as she shifted closer to him. She studied his face for a minute before deciding there had been enough lies between them these past couple of weeks to last a lifetime. It was time for honesty.  
  
Her hands tightened on his arms as she held his gaze. "I'm afraid of saying or doing something that will make you leave," she whispered as she looked down. "I'm sorry. I'm supposed to be helping you, I _want_ to help. You just need to tell me what do Ollie...I've said it before and I'll say it again. There isn't anything I won't do for you." She said as she slid her hand over his heart. "You have my heart and I don't know how many ways I'm going to have to tell you that before you actually believe it." She told him as several more tears streamed down her face.

“Chloe.” Oliver felt the last bit of composure he had slipping away as he watched her cry. He let go of the railing and wrapped both his arms around her, pulling her tight against his body. He hated himself more in that moment than he ever had in his entire life. Oliver knew how strong Chloe was and she was falling apart because of him; because he’d been selfish and he’d shut her out and just let himself slide into oblivion instead of facing his problems and telling her what she’d begged him to share with her. His own eyes grew warm and Oliver squeezed them shut, desperate to stop himself from breaking down more than he already had. It wasn’t fair to put that on Chloe when he had already taken so much from her.

He held her until he heard her tears start to subside and he could feel her breathing starting to return to normal as he rubbed his hand over her back. Oliver eased away, keeping one arm around her waist as he brought his other hand up to cup her cheek. “I know how hypocritical this is going to sound considering the way I’ve treated you, but I don’t want you to feel like you need to hide anything from me. I’m a mess, Chloe,” he told her bluntly. “But that’s not your fault. It’s mine. I thought I put this behind me.” Oliver was having trouble speaking and holding himself upright at the same time so he pulled Chloe with him as he walked over to the lounge chair and sat down, tugging her down beside him.

“I’ve never been at peace with what happened with Desmond and I’m not sure I ever will be,” Oliver told her honestly. “It doesn’t matter if you don’t think this is my fault because I believe it is and I don’t think that will ever change. It’s something I have to learn to live with because I can’t go back in time and undo what happened that day.”

Chloe sniffled slightly and draped her body over him carefully to bring herself closer to him as she nodded. "I understand that," she said softly. "I know you can't make yourself feel better about this...it's going to take time Oliver and just because of what happened with Desmond it doesn't mean you're a bad person." She told him and before he could say anything she continued.  
  
"I can't imagine what you're going through, but Ollie I need you to tell me what's going through your head. I need you to tell me when it's getting to be too much." She said softly. "No one expects you to be okay especially when someone is taunting you with mistakes you've made in the past. But you need to try and remember that I'm on your side," she whispered. "Always...I know this is going to be hard, but I'm here for the long haul, so you tell me what you need to get back on track and I will gladly do whatever it is." She said while pressing a light kiss to his chest before resting her head there and tucking it under his chin.

Oliver knew he didn’t deserve her love or her understanding or anything else she was willing to give him but he believed her when she told him that she wasn’t going anywhere. He knew he owed it to her to be a better man even if he couldn’t be the person who she deserved. “I don’t really need anything right now, Chloe.” Oliver wasn’t trying to be difficult; he just wasn’t in a place where he could even consider focusing on his own needs. “I know I need to sleep more and eat regularly and I’m probably going to feel weak until the alcohol is out of my system. But I can’t deal with the other stuff right now.”

Oliver loosened his hold on her enough for her to lift her head from his chest and meet his gaze. He brushed her hair back from her forehead and kissed her there, letting his lips linger on her skin. “I’m not saying this to shut you out. I can’t explain what it means to me that you’re here and you want to help. I just can’t right now. It’s too much,” he admitted quietly. Oliver felt like he was failing her all over again but he didn’t have the strength to get into anything about Desmond or the guilt he carried with him.

Chloe could see the guilt in his eyes again and she held onto him tighter. "I know and it's okay." She said quietly. "I can make sure you're fed and that you get all the sleep you need." She said as she rubbed her hand back and forth over his chest. "I'll handle everything with the team and the searches and Tess can hold down the fort with work until you're ready to go back." She told him with half a smile.  
  
"Just," she hesitated, "For once let me take care of you okay? I want to be here. Don't push me away anymore?" She said, but it came out as more of an uncertain question.

“It’ll be like having a pet instead of a boyfriend,” Oliver muttered. As soon as the words were out of his mouth, he regretted them. He really needed to work on being less of a jackass. Oliver sighed and hugged her closer to him again. “I’m sorry. I hate being this way, Chloe. I feel weak and useless and the worst part is that I know I did this to myself. I’m the one who went out and got drunk. I’m the one who walked out when you begged me not to. I’m so sorry,” he whispered as he buried his face in her neck.

“I’m sorry,” Oliver said for what felt like the millionth time. He stroked her hair as he turned his head and pressed a light kiss to her neck. “I’m not good at this. I usually just go get another drink or take some pills until this feeling goes away.” He straightened up again to look into her eyes. “I won’t push you away. I need you, Chloe. I know it’s selfish, but all I want right now is to be with you.” He didn’t care about what the team was doing or what was happening at Queen Industries. Someone else would handle that stuff or they wouldn’t; it didn’t matter to him. Oliver knew how wrong that was but he couldn’t make himself care. He just wanted Chloe.

Chloe's face softened and she lifted a hand to his good cheek. "Ollie...Stop apologizing. I've already forgiven you," she said quietly, "a dozen times over." She leaned in and pressed a light kiss to his chin before shifting back so she could look in his eyes. "No one likes to feel helpless, and you aren't." She ran a hand down his chest again. "You're just going through a rough patch and it's okay. We all go through them...some worse than others," she said letting her voice trail off.  
  
"You have me though. Any time you want I am here. So that's something you don't need to worry about. And if you're selfish then so am I because all I've wanted all along is you," she whispered her gaze never leaving his.

Oliver hesitated for a moment and then lowered his head, covering her mouth with his. He kissed her slowly, drawing it out as he half-expected her to push him away. But when she didn’t, Oliver cupped the back of her neck in his hand as he coaxed her mouth open, deepening the kiss and savoring every second of it. His lungs started to burn faster than usual and Oliver ignored the need for air as long as he could before he finally pulled back. Gasping for breath, he caressed her cheek as her eyes fluttered open. “I love you, Chloe. That’s never going to change,” he told her.

A wave of fatigue came over him and he pitched forward a little before he caught himself. “Okay, we should probably go inside,” Oliver said. He didn’t want to fall asleep outside and force Chloe to find some creative way to drag him back to bed. He had no doubt she would think of something, but he’d already given her enough problems.

Chloe nodded and pressed a hand to his chest as she stood and held out her arms to help him up. "I love you too." She told him as he stood. Chloe wrapped an arm around his waist and lead him inside. "Let's get you to bed," she said lightly before biting her lower lip as uncertainty creeped into her tone. "Do you want company?" She asked and then quickly continued. "If not I can find something to do in the apartment it's not a big deal at all." She told him as her heartbeat sped up in her chest.

Oliver arched an eyebrow in her direction as they walked down the hall to the bedroom. “Well it only makes sense that I bring my ‘kept concubine’ to bed with me even if I’m in no condition for those particular activities at the moment.” A smile played across his lips for what felt like the first time in weeks as he paused in the doorway of the bedroom and turned to face her. “But if you’re at all interested in some mild cuddling and a lot of sleeping, I would love your company.” Oliver pressed a kiss to the tip of her nose before tugging on her hand and pulling her toward the bed.

Chloe felt a grin pulling at her lips and she chanced a glance at him and let him tug her onto the bed. She shifted waiting for him to get comfortable as she spoke. "Yeah...The concubine comment was supposed to make you yell," she said sheepishly, "That didn't exactly work the way I planned." She met his eyes and waggled her brows jokingly. "I'd gladly be your concubine any day Romeo." She teased lightly before patting the bed next to her. "Though one should never underestimate the value of a good cuddle." She told him with half a smile.

“I’ll keep that in mind for when I don’t have alcohol coming out of my pores,” Oliver teased. He shifted closer to her on the bed, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling body flush against his. He pressed a kiss to her shoulder and another one to her neck before resting his head on the pillow beside hers and letting his eyes drift shut. “I love you,” he told her again. Oliver felt unbelievably lucky that he had Chloe in his life and he knew that he had a long way to go before he could make things up to her. But as long as she was willing to stick by him, he was going to do everything he could to make sure her life was as happy and normal as possible. He owed her at least that much.


	9. Chapter 9

Chloe stood in front of the computers in the office, her fingers flying quickly across the keyboard. It had been five days since Hal brought Oliver home and so far things seemed to be getting back on track. The alcohol was finally out of his system, his face was healing nicely and he was finally starting to get his appetite back.

He hadn't let the apartment much or at all since he'd come back home, but Chloe was sure he'd go back to work and patrolling in time. She didn't want to push him, right now she was happy to have him alert, and up and about. Chloe had missed him more than she realized and having him around again was making her slightly less stressed.  
  
She still had her moments of uncertainty, but he wasn't drinking so that was progress. The computer beeped knocking Chloe out of her thoughts. She glanced over the alert and frowned slightly. Chloe pulled up the article and skimmed it before glancing at the photo in the corner. Anxiety filled her stomach when she saw a picture of a man who was obviously attempting to rob a jewelry story, lying on the ground with an arrow through his heart.  
  
According to the article Rick Briscoe held up a small jewelry store not far from Queen Industries and was stopped, but instead of apprehending him for the police, whoever stopped him, killed the man. Chloe sucked in a deep breath as a chill ran down her spine. She enlarged the image and studied the arrow. It looked almost identical to one of the ones Oliver used.  
  
She bit her lower lip and decided not to freak out and worry anyone until she had more information. Chloe put the article aside and ran the image through the database and the Star City PD database to see if Rick had a record. She wanted to know if there were any more cases like this and if Rick popped up linked to Desmond.  
  
She entered a few codes and then minimized the windows and started looking through the news feeds and checking in with the guys on their assignments. It was mid afternoon and she was still in her silk robe. One of the perks of working from home she guessed. She was in the process of sending Victor an email when she heard a noise in the hallway. She paused and tilted her head to the side in confusion. "Ollie?"

“Just a second Chloe,” Oliver called. He bent down and picked up the mail he had knocked over when he’d misjudged the corner and walked into the table. Apparently his hand-eye coordination was still failing him even though he’d been sober for almost five days. He’d spent most of the afternoon working out in his home gym and he’d run through one of his longer routines without any problems.

He wasn’t sure what to make of the fact that he could do 300 sit-ups, run five miles on the treadmill and lift weights for an hour like it was nothing but walking ten feet down the hall to the shower was too complicated for him. Oliver sighed, placed the mail back on the table and carefully made his way down the hall to the office.

He leaned against the doorframe and offered Chloe a small smile. She’d been spending a lot of time running searches the past few days, but he hadn’t asked her what she was doing and she hadn’t offered any information. The system was working for them. Oliver knew she thought he just needed more time and he hoped she was right even though he doubted it. “Hey, I was thinking about making pasta primavera for dinner. Interested?” he asked.

Chloe arched an eyebrow in his direction a grin pulling at her lips, her eyes taking a moment to trail over his sweat slicked body before meeting his eyes. "I might be," she said with a grin, "Making one of my favorites huh? What's the occasion?" She asked softly as she rested her back against the desk. "You trying to butter me up for something?" She teased. Oliver had been spending a lot of time working out and it showed, but lately when he wasn't doing that he was doing random things around the apartment. It was nice...almost dare she say normal.

Oliver smirked as he watched her eyes trail over him. “Maybe I just want to do something nice for my girlfriend although now I’m rethinking it considering her suspicious mind,” he teased. It felt good to be around Chloe again without all the tension that had built up between them before his meltdown. She was finally looking at him like wasn’t going to break into a million pieces at any second and he liked not seeing the constant worry in her eyes. But she was still Chloe and she’d been going out of her way to take care of him so he wanted to return the favor with her favorite dinner and a quiet evening.

“I need to take a shower and then I’ll get started. Are you going to be long?” he asked. Oliver nodded his head in the direction of the computer. Before Chloe had a chance to say anything, the computer beeped. Oliver’s back stiffened but he tried not to let the sudden anxiety creep into his expression as he waited for Chloe to answer his question.

Chloe noticed the tension in his shoulders and automatically attempted to sooth it. "Well since there clearly wasn't an invitation for me to join your shower," She joked as she turned towards the monitors and pressed a few buttons. She glanced over the search and Rick had no connections to Queen Industries or Desmond whatsoever, but he wasn't the only criminal who had been killed in the last week. There were two other's.  
  
She swallowed heavily as she glanced over her shoulder. "I'm gonna be a while longer," she said lightly before turning back to the screen attempting to pick up the conversation from before. "But like I said, since I wasn't invited for your afternoon shower, I can probably finish this up while you're in there," she said pausing for a minute before continuing to type.  
  
"How would you feel about inviting Tess and Hal over for dinner?" She asked casually her face on the screen as she ran the background information on all three victims.

Oliver hesitated. He knew Chloe had been talking to Tess regularly over the past few days but Oliver hadn’t talked to either one of them since the night Hal had brought him home from the bar. He knew he owed both of them an apology and he supposed there was no point in dragging it out any longer. “Sure,” he agreed. “I can make dinner for four instead of two.” He flashed a quick smile. “I’m sure it’ll be fun,” he said. Oliver wondered if he could convince himself of that by the time they arrived. 

“And you’re always welcome in my shower,” Oliver said, trying to ease the tension by changing the subject. “I just figured you were busy.” He shrugged, knowing that was only part of the truth. Oliver had started feeling better physically after the second day but neither of them had really pushed to resume their physical relationship. Oliver knew Chloe was letting him set the pace because she wanted to make sure he was okay and he was but there was a part of him that felt like he was taking advantage of her and he didn’t want to push for anything more when she was already doing so much for him.

Chloe glanced in his direction and gave him a tight smile as her chest tightened. “I am.” She said before turning back to the screen and pulling up another file trying not to be hurt by the fact that her being busy had never stopped him before. “I should get back to this, but if you need any help with dinner just let me know,” She said while pulling up her email and typing in Lois’s address but then erasing it figuring she’d just give her cousin a call. She couldn’t remember the last time she talked to her and she knew she’d missed a call or two from her in the past week or so. “Can you close the door on your way out?” She asked lightly while separating the searches on the computer.

Confused, Oliver nodded as he slowly backed out of the room. It wasn’t like Chloe to want the door closed but he wasn’t going to question her. “Okay,” he said quietly. He pulled the door closed and made his way down the hall to the master bedroom. Something was off and he felt the tension he’d been trying so hard to shake, creeping back into his body.

Oliver wasn’t sure if Chloe was upset by his reaction to Hal and Tess coming over or if she was working on something she knew he wouldn’t want to talk about or if it was something else altogether. He just hoped he hadn’t managed to screw this whole thing up already. Sighing, Oliver headed into the bathroom.

Chloe had seen the confusion on Oliver’s face and she felt bad for putting it there, but she wasn’t sure what she was supposed to do. Her boyfriend loved her, but apparently something had changed between them since he barely kissed her anymore let alone anything else. She sighed and shook her head. Chloe waited until she heard the door in the bedroom close before plopping down in the desk chair.

She pushed things around the desk until she found her cell phone under some papers. She lifted it and pressed down the speed dial button for Lois before bringing the phone to her ear.  She’d wanted to call her cousin for weeks especially when things had gotten bad with Oliver, but she hadn’t wanted to bring Lois into her mess. She swallowed hard and moved the chair around as she waited for her cousin to answer.

Lois frowned as she stared at the contents of the refrigerator. She could have sworn there was still leftover Chinese food from two nights ago but she didn’t see the containers anymore. She really should have stopped and grabbed something before she’d left Metropolis but she’d been hoping Clark would be home and they could have dinner together. But he was out doing his thing and it looked like she was going to have to make do with microwave popcorn and a bottle of wine.

“I’ve had worse meals,” she muttered to herself as she took the wine off the shelf and moved to the cabinet to grab a bag of popcorn. She heard her cell phone ringing in the living room and quickly pushed the buttons to start the microwave and hurried into the other room, bottle of wine in hand. “I’m coming, I’m coming,” she called even though the person obviously couldn’t hear her. Lois scooped the phone off the table and let out a squeal when she saw Chloe’s name on the caller ID. “Hey cuz, what is going on?” Lois asked as she dropped into the chair. “And before you say nothing, I want to remind you that we haven’t talked in weeks so I expect a full report.”

Chloe smiled and relaxed into the chair lifting her bare feet to the desk. “Hey Lo,” She said softly. “I’m sorry it’s taken me so long to call you back, we’ve been a little slammed on the bad guy front, but other than that, honestly absolutely nothing is going on.” She told her. “Get this, it’s after five at night and I’m still in my robe.” She said lightly before the smile dropped from her face and she bit her lower lip. “How are things in Metropolis?” She asked lightly.

“Same old, same old,” Lois replied. She kicked off the heels that were still on her feet and brought her legs up underneath her as she settled herself more comfortably in the chair. “Clark is out saving someone and I am living the glamorous life of microwave popcorn and cheap wine.” She brought the bottle to her lips and took a long sip.

“So now that we’re all caught up, why don’t you tell me the real reason you decided to call me out of the blue? What’s wrong, Chlo?” she asked. Lois didn’t need Chloe to be standing in front of her to know that she wasn’t okay. Her cousin had one hell of a poker face but she’d never quite mastered keep her emotions out of her voice.

Chloe sighed, she should have known she couldn’t fool Lois, but she wasn’t exactly sure what to tell her cousin. It wasn’t her place to tell Lois about Oliver, but she didn’t want to lie to her cousin. She dropped her feet to the ground and lowered her voice. “First, I’m sorry that the first time I’m calling is because something is wrong,” She said softly. “Second, something has been going on out here, but I can’t tell you what it is. All I can say is it involves Oliver and it’s his thing, so it’s not really my place to say anything.” She told her cousin as her brows furrowed.

She hesitated before pursing her lips. “I don’t know Lo…I miss you and lately…Things haven’t exactly been great between me and Oliver.” She said softly while leaning forward slightly. “I know it’s because of this whole mess that’s been going on, but I feel so disconnected from him. I feel like even though I know he loves me…Maybe that’s not enough for him.” She said her voice low.

“Okay,” Lois said slowly. Chloe was giving her next to nothing to work with so she was going to have to do her best to piece it together enough to help her. “First, I miss you too. Things aren’t the same here without you.” She chewed on the corner of her lip as she replayed everything Chloe had said in her mind. “All right so from the very little you’re telling me, I gather something happened to or around Oliver and now you’re questioning your relationship. How am I doing so far?” she asked.

Chloe nodded even though Lois couldn’t see her. “Yes. I love Oliver, Lois. More than anything and relationships aren’t easy I know that. But I just feel like, I don’t know, maybe his heart isn’t in this anymore. Maybe I’m not enough for him,” She whispered as she glanced down. Things had been better lately because Oliver was finally sober and they could joke around again without things being awkward, but there was still this huge space between them and no matter what she did, she couldn’t seem to bridge the gap.

“Chloe, I don’t think the guy asked you to move across the country with him just so he could get bored a few months later,” Lois pointed out. As amazing as her cousin was, she’d always had self-esteem issues especially when it came to relationships. But Lois had witnessed the way Oliver worshipped Chloe and she highly doubted that anything he was going through was going to make him stop loving her cousin.

“Have you talked to him?” she asked even though she already knew the answer to her question. Chloe wasn’t the type to lay her cards out on the table. She was the type to bottle her feelings inside and suffer silently until she was miserable.

Lois kept talking without waiting for Chloe to answer. “You said he’s going through something and it sounds like it must be bad if you can’t give me any details, which I respect,” she added quickly. Lois didn’t want Chloe to close herself off even more before she got to the bottom of whatever was bothering her cousin. “But why do you feel like you’re not enough for him? You don’t think there’s someone else, do you?” she asked. Lois knew Oliver had a reputation but she’d also seen the way he’d been with Chloe and she couldn’t imagine that had been an act.

Chloe frowned. “Of course not, Oliver would never cheat on me,” She told her matter of factly. Even in his darkest place she knew he would never go down that road. “And no, I haven’t talked to him about it. He’s been,” She paused trying to figure out a way to describe how he’d been before this week without calling him an out of control drunk, which he wasn’t. “It’s been difficult. Oliver hasn’t exactly been himself lately. I mean he’s been okay for the last few days, but before that not so much,” She told her quietly as she picked at the invisible lint on her robe.

“I feel like I don’t make him happy anymore,” She whispered. “Ollie and I, we used to be so close and now I feel like there’s this huge gap between us. And I’ve tried everything to fill the space between us, but nothing is working.” She told her cousin with a sigh. “I know I’m probably being over dramatic, but like I said things have been hectic and I guess I’ve just been feeling kind of lost and I needed an ear of someone who wasn’t around here.” She said as she leaned back in her seat.

“I am always here when you need someone to listen to you,” Lois reminded her. She was still trying to figure out what Chloe wasn’t telling her, but she was coming up empty. However, if there was one thing she had experience with; it was being in love with a man who closed himself off from everyone around him. Hell, Clark had a literal fortress of solitude that he went to when he needed to get away from everything.

“All right, Chlo, here is my big cousin advice. You can’t take it personally,” she stressed. “Unless you’re leaving out the part where it was your fault that Oliver has gone into crisis mode, I doubt he’s blaming you for whatever is bothering him. He probably just needs to work it out in his head or atone for whatever it is he thinks he did wrong. I know you want to fix everything and make it better for him but sometimes you can’t,” Lois said gently. She knew how hard that was for Chloe to accept because the two of them were cut from the same cloth and it was painful for them to watch people they loved be miserable without wanting to take the pain away. But sometimes that wasn’t possible.

Chloe pursed her lips and shifted in her chair. “You’re right,” She said quietly. “I know you are. I’m just so tired Lo. I’m so tired of things falling apart and I want to be happy and aside from those few moments here and there, right now I’m just not.” She said softly before rolling her neck. “Does that make me a horrible person?” She asked softly. Chloe felt horrible for even saying it. She knew none of this was Oliver’s fault and she felt guilty for telling Lois she wasn’t happy when Oliver was clearly trying and this couldn’t be easy for him.

Chloe shook her head, she was completely ungrateful. She wasn’t even sure why Oliver was bothering with her. He was finally home and not out getting drunk and avoiding her and all she could do was complain. She was a horrible girlfriend. She cleared her throat and sat up slightly, “Enough about me…How are you? Any news on the newspaper front? Didn’t you say you were up for a promotion the last time we talked?” She asked softly.

“Wanting to be happy does not make you a horrible person,” Lois insisted. Her heart went out to her cousin. She knew how good Chloe was at putting other people first and that took a toll on a person sometimes. “Chlo, we live these crazy lives that most people would never be able to handle in a million years. You might still be in your robe at five in the afternoon but you probably spent the entire day in front of the computer checking to make sure there were no crime sprees going on that needed the immediate attention of a superhero. There’s nothing wrong with wanting something good for yourself and Oliver too.”

Lois let her words hang in the air for a moment, hoping they would sink into her cousin’s stubborn head. “I’m still waiting to hear about the promotion. Perry keeps adding on extra tasks. I’m pretty sure he plans on giving it to me because he knows after all these hoops I’ve had to jump through that I might actually murder him if he went in a different direction,” she said cheerfully.

Lois was right she had spent her time in front of the computers all day and she hoped Oliver would be ready to get back out there soon because the world needed Green Arrow. She really thought that might help the process along. Once he put back on his uniform maybe that would help lead him in the right direction again. She pushed aside her thoughts and smiled slightly. “Well if anyone can annoy Perry into giving them a job it’s you,” She said fondly.

“That’s the plan,” Lois joked. She wasn’t the slightest bit offended by her cousin’s words. She knew she meant them lovingly and besides, it was the truth. “What about you? I hope you’re not planning to sit around and worry all night. Maybe you should convince that billionaire of yours to take you out. It would probably do both of you some good,” she suggested.

Lois knew Chloe had a tendency to get lost in her work especially when she was trying to avoid dealing with a personal issue and from everything Chloe had told her, it sounded like Oliver was the same way. “Maybe that’s what you need to rekindle that spark you’re afraid you’ve lost. A change of scenery,” she said.

Chloe swallowed heavily. “Somehow I have a feeling it’s going to take more than a night out to fix things,” She said quietly before shaking her head again and changing the subject. “How are things with you and Clark? Is living together everything you thought it would be?”                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                

“You have to start somewhere, Chlo,” Lois said gently. She could tell Chloe didn’t really want to talk anymore so she just left it at that. “Smallville and I are doing okay with the cohabitating thing. We’ve had a few issues with him eating my leftover food when I wasn’t looking and it does get a little lonely on this big, empty farm when he’s gone most of the night but that’s what I signed up for and I can live with that. I do miss my favorite cousin though. Any chance you want to come home for a little while?” she asked.

Chloe smiled slightly. “Clark eats a lot,” She said slightly amused by her cousin’s words. “I’m glad things are going good for you guys.” She told her before hesitating. She opened her mouth right as the computer beeped. Chloe frowned and got up moving to the other side of the room and glancing at the screen. She frowned at the information there and printed out several copies of everything as she spoke.

“Honestly, I’ve been thinking about that.” Or she had when Oliver was drunk and saying means things, “And I want to, but I can’t leave Oliver right now,” She said softly. “If I could I would because I think a little time in Metropolis could help, but I just can’t right now.” She said softly. It was difficult not being able to tell Lois everything.

“I understand,” Lois said. Or she understood the best she could when she only had pieces of the information. “Chlo, if there’s anything Clark or I can do for you or for Oliver, all you have to do is ask. You know we can be there in no time if you need us,” she reminded her. Lois was trying to gage just how bad things really were. She knew Chloe liked to handle her own problems but Lois didn’t want her to think she had to do everything alone just because they lived in different states now.

Chloe smiled slightly. “I know Lo and I appreciate that. I don’t think this is something Oliver would be comfortable having everyone know about though, so I can handle things for now. Plus Tess and Hal are around. I’m sure everything is going to be fine eventually. I just needed to get some of that off my chest.” She told her softly, “I don’t want to burden Oliver more than he already is and Hal still isn’t crazy about me, it’s sort of lonely out here too,” She confessed.

“I’m sorry, cuz,” Lois said. She felt bad that things weren’t working out the way Chloe had wanted them to. But she knew if there was anyone who could take a bad situation and set everything right again, it was her cousin. “You know I’m always here if you need to talk. Day or night,” she added. Lois knew perfectly well that certain problems in their life would always be a middle of the night kind of thing. “Also, think about what I said. Oliver probably just needs time and the best thing you can do is give it to him. He loves you, Chloe. That’s not going to change.”

“I know he does,” She frowned, “Or I’m pretty sure he does, either way. Thanks for listening to me ramble. I should probably finish up this work so I can shower and get dressed. You know the same applies for you. You can call me any time you need to talk.” She told her quietly.

“Thanks, Chlo. Talk to you soon,” Lois said. She disconnected the call and absently reached for the bottle of wine. Lois hated hearing how sad her cousin sounded and she wished there was something she could do for her. “This living in different states thing really blows,” she muttered to herself as she got up and went to the kitchen to get her popcorn.

 

______

 

 

Tess reached for the water glass in front of her and took a long sip as she once again wished that it was something stronger. She’d been more than a little surprised when Chloe had called and said that Oliver was making dinner for everyone considering he hadn’t spoken to them since the ugly night Hal had brought him back from the bar.

Chloe had been keeping her updated and she’d said that Oliver was doing better for the most part but Tess wasn’t so sure about that. Aside from when they’d first arrived and he’d briefly apologized for his behavior Oliver had barely said a word. He’d stuck close to Chloe’s side and he seemed to be making an effort to avoid eye contact with everyone.  
      
Chloe didn’t exactly seem like she was in the mood to entertain guests either. Her smile seemed forced when she bothered with one and Tess didn’t miss the way she kept looking at Oliver like she wasn’t sure what to do. She’d made polite small talk but after awhile Chloe had fallen silent as well and just seemed to be focusing on the food in front of her.

Tess had tried to tell them what was going on at work, but Oliver hadn’t said anything when she went over some of the meetings she’d had in the past few days. Tess had no idea what she was supposed to do. She glanced at Hal and he looked every bit as uncomfortable as she felt.

Hal could feel Tess’s eyes on him and he glanced in her direction while discretely motioning to the other side of the table and making a face. When Tess told him that Chloe had invited them over for dinner he had been slightly confused. He knew his fiancé had been talking to the blonde the last few days through email and the occasional phone call, but he hadn’t thought Oliver was ready for company and obviously he was right.

He wasn’t sure what was going on with his friend, but whatever it was, it didn’t seem like a good thing. Hal reached over and took Tess’s hand in his under the table giving it a light squeeze trying to let her know he was there. He knew it couldn’t be easy for Tess to tell Oliver about the company and have him barely respond. He was beginning to think that dinner had been a bad idea.

Things between him and Tess were finally calming down and though she’d been working extra hours because Oliver was out of the office. One thing Hal was glad about was the fact that he and Tess had been able to work through things enough so they were at a point where they things were okay instead with them.

He lifted her hand and placed a kiss against it before glancing at Oliver. “The pasta’s good,” He said lightly attempting to break the silence in the room.

“Thanks,” Oliver said. “I’m glad you like it.” He met Hal’s eyes briefly and then turned his gaze back to his plate before he sent a sideways glance in Chloe’s direction. Oliver knew he’d done something to upset her but he couldn’t figure out what it was. He’d replayed the conversation they’d had in his head and tried to figure out what he could have said to upset her but nothing really made sense in his head.

Of course that was nothing new. He hadn’t really been able to make sense of anything lately and this terrible dinner party they were currently having was a perfect example of that. He could see the way Hal and Tess were looking at him like they were expecting him to break down and start drinking any second or something. He supposed he had earned that though after the way he’d been acting.

Hal sighed. He was tired of making awkward small talk. He ate the last of the pasta on his plate and then put down his fork. “Obviously we’re pretty bad at theses double date things,” He said getting everyone’s attention. “Was there a reason you guys invited us over?” He asked curiously, “Or is this one of those just because dinners? Not that I’m complaining just curious.” He said lightly not trying to be rude.

Chloe pursed her lips and lifted a forkful of pasta to her mouth to avoid answering the question. She wanted to tell them about what she had found earlier in the afternoon and she hadn’t wanted to repeat it a ton of different times so she thought them being all together would be a good idea, but apparently she’d been wrong.

Oliver glanced at Chloe again but she seemed to have no interest in looking in his direction or answering Hal’s question. He sighed as the familiar urge to drink built inside of him. Oliver reached for the water in front of him and swallowed the entire glass in one gulp. He knew everyone was uncomfortable and it was his fault.

Maybe that’s why Chloe was upset. Everything had seemed fine until he’d had a bad reaction to inviting Hal and Tess over for dinner. He remembered the vow he’d made to himself to do whatever he could to give her a normal life and that included having friends over for dinner and not acting like someone had died.

He tried to remember what Tess had been saying earlier about the office. He hadn’t given her his full attention because he’d been trying to figure out what was wrong with Chloe. Oliver lifted his gaze from his plate and looked at Tess. “How did the Peterson meeting go? Was Ken mad that I wasn’t there?” he asked.

A look of surprise crossed Tess’s face but she covered it quickly. “He wasn’t mad,” she said. The man had ranted for twenty minutes, but Oliver didn’t need to know that. “The meeting itself went well. He’s interested in the deal you came up with but he still wants more time to think it over which is his way of saying he wants you to offer him more money. I don’t think you should,” she added. Tess could see that Oliver was still struggling, but at least he was trying.

Oliver nodded. “I agree and I have no intention of changing the figure we already gave him. He’ll come around if he doesn’t hear from us. He’s been on board too long to lose interest now.” He felt some of the tension draining out of his shoulders as he turned toward Hal. “What’s new with you?” he asked. “Is that new manager still giving you a hard time or did you convince Ferris to fire him already?”

Hal smirked. “They fired him last week because apparently I’m invaluable, which is true.” He said with a smug grin as he placed a hand on Tess’s thigh and rested it there. “Things have been better and the new guy they hired isn’t such a douche. He’s actually willing to listen and if he doesn’t agree he’ll compromise, which I’m good with. So win, win.” He said with a slight shrug. He was glad to see his friend was attempting to get more into the conversation because he had something he wanted to talk with him about.

He glanced at Tess briefly before looking back at Oliver. “I was thinking maybe next week if you’re up for it we can do a little tuxedo shopping? I know Tess and I haven’t set an official date yet, but we sort of want to get everything taken care of early in case the world tries to end or something,” He joked as his eyes shifted between Chloe and Oliver.

Chloe glanced up at hearing Hal talk about the wedding and her face softened as some of the tension left her shoulders. This would be something nice they could talk about before she brought up what she had to tell them about the murders. She wasn’t trying to hide things she just wanted them to have a nice dinner and Oliver to have a chance to mend fences with Hal and Tess before they talked about business.

“There was never a doubt in my mind that you would outlast him,” Oliver said. He smiled at his friend, letting himself relax a little more. “I can definitely work that into my schedule next week. It’s good to know that you’ll be wearing a tux and not standing up there in jeans and a t-shirt,” he teased. They all knew how much Hal hated wearing suits. “We can go to the place I usually get my stuff so Tess won’t be embarrassed to stand next to you.”

Tess raised an eyebrow as she tried to bite back a smile. “I would only be embarrassed to stand next to him if he wore one of those cartoon character t-shirts he’s so fond of.” She wrinkled her nose as she brought another forkful of pasta to her mouth. “Some of those might have disappeared though.” Tess averted her gaze from Hal and tried not to laugh. It felt really good to have Oliver back. Things were finally starting to feel normal again.

Hal gave her a horrified look and pointed at her. "I knew you stole them! I knew it. You're just lucky I love you. Stealing a man's favorite shirts is punishable by all kinds of horrible things." He said as he gave her a mock glare. "Evil woman," he muttered before glanced at his empty plate and pouting.  
  
Chloe motioned towards Hal's plate. "Do you want some more?" She asked lightly while arching any eyebrow in his direction. They hadn't exactly spoken since she yelled at him before he went to go find Oliver, then again that wasn't really new. It wasn't like they'd ever really talked.  
  
Hal glanced in Chloe's direction for the first time that night and shrugged. "Sure," he said before turning his eyes back to Oliver. He wasn't looking to attempt to make up with the other woman again.   
  
He'd been the bigger man once, came to her and apologized and then she'd caused trouble between him and Tess and then threw a tantrum the night Oliver was missing, yelling at him and being all high and mighty as usual. He was done attempting to be friends with the blonde.  
  
Chloe rolled her eyes slightly and got up taking his plate to the kitchen to put more pasta on his dish and take a minute for herself. Oliver had been giving her strange looks all night and she wasn't exactly sure why, but apparently she was upsetting him so she needed to do a better job of not doing that. She took a deep breath and called out from the kitchen. "Any one need another drink?"

“I never said I took them. I said they might have disappeared,” Tess replied. She gave Hal an innocent smile. “It’s not my fault you’re a slob and you misplace things. But it’s okay. I love you anyway,” she teased as she leaned over and pressed a kiss to his cheek. She’d noticed the way he’d treated Chloe, but she wasn’t going to push him. They had enough problems without her trying to convince Hal that he needed to be nicer to Oliver’s girlfriend.

Oliver gave them a tight smile and got to his feet. He could see that Hal and Chloe were at odds again which he assumed was probably his fault. But he didn’t think that was the only thing bothering Chloe. “Excuse me for a minute,” he told his friends. He made his way into the kitchen where Chloe was standing near the stove adding more pasta to Hal’s plate. He could see the tension in her shoulders and the familiar guilt flared up in his chest. “Chloe, what’s wrong?” he asked.

Chloe blinked startled by his presence as she turned around to face him. “Nothing,” She let out a breath. That was a lie and he obviously knew it. She didn’t want to lie to him, but she also didn’t want to bring up what she and Lois talked about earlier. Oliver had enough to deal with right now without her being needy and adding more issues to his plate. She knew how hard he was trying and it meant a lot. She didn’t want to mess that up.

“I’m sorry. I’m tired,” She told him quietly, “And I have something I wanted to talk to everyone about, but I wanted to wait until after dinner you know? Not mixing business with fun?” She asked lightly. “I know Tess and Hal have been worried about you so I wanted you to be able to spend some time with them,” She said her voice trailing off as she shrugged. “But I’m okay. Are you okay? You seem…upset.”

“I’m worried about you,” Oliver replied. He crossed the room to her, took Hal’s plate from her hand and set it on the counter. He reached out, brushing one hand against her cheek while the other one settled on her hip as he forced her back against the counter so she couldn’t avoid looking at him. “Chloe, I’m not just talking about dinner. You seemed upset earlier and I’m trying to figure out what I said that upset you but you’re going to have to help me out on this one.” He’d considered just leaving her alone since she obviously didn’t want to talk to him, but Oliver couldn’t do that. Things were never going to be normal again if they kept shutting each other out.

“You didn’t do anything to upset me,” She said softly before swallowing hard. “I…” She paused and dropped her eyes not sure how to explain the insecurities she was feeling. She took a deep breath and met his eyes again. “I’m scared that things between us are…” She trailed off trying to find the right words, “not what they used to be?” She said a question present in her tone. “I don’t know,” She said frustrated. “I’m worried that maybe you don’t see me the way you used to.” She said with a sigh and motioned towards the other room.

“Ollie maybe we should go back inside. Tess and Hal are here to see you…And this isn’t a big deal, I promise I don’t want you to worry or be upset everything is okay.” She told him quickly feeling horrible that after everything he’d been through in the past week she was brining up something so stupid.

“Tess and Hal are capable of talking amongst themselves for a little longer,” Oliver said. He wasn’t concerned about his friends. They were probably still talking about Hal’s t-shirts that Tess had found a way to get rid of. “Chloe, you asked me not to push you away and I need you to do the same thing for me. I don’t want you to feel like you have to put your feelings and emotions on hold because you’re worried you’re going to upset me. I’m not going to break,” he told her firmly. Oliver didn’t expect her to believe him after the way he’d behaved, but he planned on telling her over and over again until his actions were enough to prove to her that he wasn’t going to slip again.  

“You’re right though,” Oliver said quietly. He brushed his thumb over her cheek as he tilted her head up so she was looking at him again. “I don’t see you the way I used to because I realize now that I was an idiot before. Chloe, I love you so much and I can’t believe I was stupid enough to risk what we have over something that happened in the past. But I swear to you that I will fix it.” His hand tightened on her hip as he moved closer to her, pressing his body against hers so there was no space between them. He wanted her to know that she was always going to be his priority even if he hadn’t done a good job of showing her that in the past. “You mean everything to me, Chloe.”

Her face softened and she lifted her body slightly and wrapped her arms around his neck as she let out a short breath. “I know you’re not going to break and I know you’ve been working really hard to get your priorities straight. I just don’t want to make things harder on you because I’m feeling insecure.  It’s not fair to you,” She mumbled against his neck as she placed a light kiss there before resting her head there.

“You mean everything to me too. I love you so much…And I miss you Ollie,” She whispered the words and tightened her arms around him. “I miss being close to you. I feel like there’s this huge distance between us even though things are getting better and I just don’t know what to do to fix it.” She said before pulling back slightly so she could look at his face. “I’ve tried everything I could think of. Just tell me how to fix it and I will.” I said softly with a small shrug.

“I’m sorry I’m complaining,” She said with a sigh. “I know you love me, I just,” She swallowed heavily her chest tightening. “What if I’m not enough for you anymore,” She whispered attempting to hide the tears from her eyes, not wanting to make him feel bad for her issues.

Oliver stared at her for a moment, too shocked to speak. He didn’t understand how she could possibly think she wasn’t enough for him. “Chloe, I love you but that is the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard come out of your mouth,” he told her bluntly. “I don’t know what I did or said to make you feel that way, but I’m so sorry.” Oliver brushed her hair back from her face and cupped her cheeks in his hands. “You are all I need, Chloe.” He hesitated, not wanting to burden her more than he already had, but Oliver knew she wanted him to be honest with her.

“I feel like I don’t deserve you anymore or maybe I never did in the first place,” Oliver admitted. “I know you said you understand and you don’t blame me for what happened but I really screwed up, Chloe and that’s hard for me to live with. But the last thing I want is for my mistakes to taint you.” Oliver knew that he’d kept a wall between them despite of everything and he felt guilty for making her think it was her fault in any way.

Chloe swallowed hard and cupped his cheek. “Ollie…we all make mistakes and before you say anything I know this is hard for you and I know it’s something you’re still trying to deal with and me telling you I don’t blame you doesn’t change how you feel.” She told him. “I get that, I do. But don’t ever for one second think you don’t deserve me. We’ve both made mistakes and I’m not nearly as perfect as you make me out to be. I was tainted when we met,” She said quietly while moving slightly closer to him.

“You and the mistakes you’ve made have not and will never taint me,” She said softly while trying to make him understand. “You have no idea what you’ve done for me. You gave me faith in people again Oliver. You helped me open up to you and trust me that’s no easy feat.” She told him lightly. “Don’t apologize. This isn’t your fault. It’s mine. I’m just so used to you always being there. It’s not just the sex,” She said before attempting to lighten the situation a little. “Okay maybe it’s the sex a little,” She joked, before the smile left her face.

“It’s everything. It’s the stupid caresses I always used to tease you about or the way you couldn’t seem to be near me enough. Or how you would hold me for hours just because you wanted to be close to me…” She said before her voice trailed off and she glanced down embarrassed. “I don’t know when I became so needy I’m sorry and completely embarrassed by it.” She told him before glancing back up at him.

“I used to always be able to tell how much you wanted me. How much you enjoyed being around me…and I got used to that. I got used to feeling desired and important,” She said hesitating, “And now I’m scared you don’t feel that way anymore, because you put this distance between us and…I mean if there’s something I’m doing that’s upsetting you I can change it. But I don’t know. Maybe it’s all in my head and I’m being one of those ridiculous clingy girlfriends who needs attention twenty four seven, which I really hope isn’t the case because that seems exhausting.” She babbled while glancing down again as her heart clenched. “I’m sorry.”

“I’m glad you miss the ‘stupid caresses’ that you gave me such grief about,” Oliver teased. He pressed a kiss to her forehead and waited for her to meet his eyes again before he started talking. “Chloe, I’m sorry.” He placed his finger over her lips before she could say anything. “I know you’re going to tell me to stop apologizing but you’re going to have to give me this one. I obviously hurt you and I’m sorry and I want you to listen while I try to explain myself, okay?” He arched an eyebrow and when she didn’t say anything, he dropped his finger from her lips and continued.

“When we were fighting the other day, you accused me of using sex to distract you. I know you said you didn’t mean the concubine comment and you were just trying to get a reaction out of me, but I think you were serious about the first part and maybe you were right to a point,” he stressed. Oliver cupped her face in his hands and tilted her head toward him as his eyes bore into hers. “Do not think for one second that I was having sex with you just so we wouldn’t have to talk.” Oliver knew how her mind worked and he didn’t want her panicking and spinning things inside her mind more than she already had.

“I just wanted to focus on the good things,” Oliver explained. A small smile played across his lips as he stroked her face. “Being with you is good; it’s better than good,” he said. “I love you, Chloe and I love touching you and kissing you and I just wanted to focus on you and pretend everything else wasn’t happening,” he said quietly. “But after I told you the truth, I wanted to make sure you knew that I was trying and I didn’t want you to think I was distracting you or hiding anything from you.”   

He leaned down until his forehead was pressed against hers. “I guess I didn’t think it through because the last thing I ever wanted was for you to feel like I don’t want to be close to you. I miss you too, Chloe. If Hal and Tess weren’t in the next room right now, I’d be more than happy to show just how desirable and important I find you.”

Chloe laughed lightly as she tried to push back the tears in her eyes. “I’m sorry for making a big deal out of it.” She told him quietly while resting her hands on his chest. “I know you love me, I guess I was just being silly,” She said quietly. She hated being so vulnerable and needy. She wasn’t used to people thinking she was anything special. _She_ didn’t even think she was anything special. But the way Oliver had always looked at her made her feel beautiful and loved and she had just been so afraid of losing that. Of him finally seeing that he could do better than just her.

Chloe leaned up and pressed a light kiss to his lips and when she pulled back she gave him a small smile. “Thank you,” She said while brushing her thumb across his cheek before shifting to get the plate that he had taken from her hands and placed down.

“Not so fast,” Oliver said. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her back against him as he trailed his lips over her neck. “You do realize that you just gave me permission to touch you and stare at you whenever I feel like it and I plan to take full advantage of that.” He kissed his way up to her ear and lightly sucked her earlobe into his mouth as he brought one of his hands up from her waist to cup her breast.

He brushed his thumb over her nipple as his lips moved down the column of her neck. “I guess we should probably go back out there,” he said. Oliver knew Chloe had something she wanted to talk to all of them about but he really hoped whatever it was wouldn’t take long. He really wanted to be alone with her.

Chloe moaned arching her body into his hand as a spark of arousal slammed through her body. It had been way too long since he’d touched her even though in reality it had probably been less than two weeks, but for them, that was long. She’d missed him so much. Her body immediately responded to his ministrations as she gripped his arm with her empty hand and arched an eyebrow.

“Oliver,” She said in a warning tone, but there was a glint of humor in her eyes. “Watch it because as much as I like Tess,” She purposefully leaving out Hal’s name, “I like you more…and it’s been too long for you to tease.” She said as her eyes met his. She leaned up pressing her lips to his chin and trailing them towards his ear. Her breath was warm as it hit his skin. “Don’t push it because I’ll leave them in there and drag you to bed,” She whispered matter of factly.

“If that’s supposed to be a threat, it’s not a very good one,” Oliver told her in the same matter-of-fact tone. His hand was still kneading her breast as he leaned down and covered her mouth with his. “If I thought you could stay quiet, you would already be naked,” he told her between kisses. Oliver eased back, pleased to see that her skin was flushed and she was having a hard time catching her breath.

He hoped she was getting the message just how desirable he found her. “You might want to grab some more ice water,” he teased as he took the plate from her hand. “I’ll bring this out to Hal.” Oliver winked at her over his shoulder and made his way back into the dining room.

Chloe watched him go before resting her body back against the counter. She took a few deep breaths to try and calm herself down before shaking her head slightly. Maybe they shouldn’t wait until after dinner to talk. She glanced at the clock and bit her lower lip. Yeah, they should definitely talk about it now. Chloe pushed away from the counter and made her way to the office.

Hal glanced up at the sound of footsteps and saw Oliver make his way back into the room. His friend had left so quickly that he and Tess were wondering what had happened.  He arched an eyebrow as he watched Oliver closely. “You okay man?” He asked lightly.

“Yeah, I’m good,” Oliver said. He fought the urge to smirk as he dropped Hal’s plate in front of him. “Sorry that took so long. Chloe will be right back,” he told them as he walked around the table to his chair. Oliver reached for the pitcher of water and refilled his glass. He briefly considered asking them to leave but Oliver figured that would just make things more awkward. He picked up his fork and smiled at Tess across the table. “So do you two have any more wedding details worked out?” he asked, hoping the casual conversation would distract him from the urge to go grab Chloe and finish what he’d started in the kitchen.

“Not really,” Tess said. “Things have been kind of hectic lately.” She watched Oliver carefully, trying to decipher his mood. He seemed a lot happier than when he’d walked out but he still seemed anxious. But it wasn’t the same depressed anxiety he’d been exhibiting all night. She was about to say something else when Chloe walked back in carrying a stack of papers. Her face was flushed and Tess watched Oliver glance up at her and smirk. Tess rolled her eyes. Well that certainly explained things. “Did you get what you need?” she asked Chloe, giving her a knowing look.

Chloe’s cheeks tinted slightly before she flashed Tess a grin. “Something like that,” She joked as she sat down and passed a few papers to Tess motioning for her to give some to Hal. “There’s actually something I wanted to run by all of you. I’ve been researching a lot these past few days and working with the guys. They’ve all been really good about sharing shifts and what not,” She told them lightly.

“And things have been semi-quiet with the people they are watching over. But you know me, I like to be thorough.” She said as she addressed Tess. “And during one of my searches I came across something sort of troubling.” She told them with a frown and motioned towards the papers. “Three criminals were murdered in the past few days,” She paused giving them a chance to take in the information. “They were killed with arrows ,” She gave Oliver a sideways glanced. “Arrows that are practically identical to Green Arrow’s.”

The stacks of papers held crime scene photos, coroner’s reports and backgrounds on each victim. Hal glanced over the papers Tess had passed to him and he frowned. This was different. He knew Oliver wouldn’t have done this, but he wasn’t really sure who else used arrows when going after criminals. It wasn’t exactly common.

Tess frowned as she looked at the information in front of her. “These weren’t just regular arrows either. These lab reports say all the victims had some kind of chemical in their system.” She glanced at Hal before turning her attention to the crime scene photos. She was glad she’d already been done eating because her appetite was completely gone now. “It doesn’t seem like these victims had anything in common except for being criminals,” she commented. Tess’s gaze fell on Oliver. He hadn’t said a word. “What do you think?” she asked.

“I don’t know. I’m just hearing about this,” Oliver replied. He held out his hand for the papers as he tried to figure out why Chloe wouldn’t have at least given him some kind of warning. He realized this must have been what she’d been working on earlier. He took the papers from Tess and flipped to the crime scene photos. The arrows did look remarkably similar to the ones he used but he could see the subtle differences. He doubted anyone else would be able to though and he had a feeling that was the point. 

He placed the picture on the table of the man with an arrow through his chest and tapped his finger against it. “This guy was stabbed with the arrow; it wasn’t fired from anything. It’s embedded too deeply in his chest.” Oliver laid out the next two pictures. “These arrows weren’t fired either and Tess is right. The chemicals must have been the cause of death in both cases because neither arrow is embedded in an artery or organ. These aren’t life threatening injuries,” he said.

Chloe pursed her lips. “I realize that. I’m showing you this because I think someone is trying to frame Green Arrow for murder. There isn’t anyone out there present company included who would be able to tell these arrows apart from his.” She told them carefully knowing this wasn’t going to go over well with Oliver which was why she wanted them to all talk about it together. “I wanted to get your thoughts on this and see if any of you had any thoughts on why someone would want to frame Green Arrow.” She said as her eyes landed on Oliver.

“This has to be connected to the recent murders and it can’t be a coincidence that someone is taunting Oliver with boat trinkets and making Green Arrow look like a killer,” Tess said. She could tell Chloe was trying to tread carefully around the elephant in the room, but if someone was framing Green Arrow for murder, they had much bigger problems than worrying about Oliver freaking out again. “Oliver, whoever is doing this knows your identity,” she said. Tess reached out and grabbed Hal’s hand under the table. If someone had figured out Oliver’s identity, there was a chance Hal’s could be a risk too. This person had obviously done his or her research and that scared her.

“Yeah, I got that, thanks Tess,” Oliver muttered sarcastically. He stacked the photos into a pile and glanced at the papers containing the identities of the victims and the nights the murders had taken place. The first one had been the night Hal had dragged him home from the bar. Before that night, he hadn’t been out on patrol for several days. He briefly wondered if the killer knew that and then decided it didn’t matter. There was nothing he could do about any of this. He added the papers to the stack and pushed them toward Chloe.

Hal squeezed Tess’s hand lightly to reassure her as he watched Oliver closely. Chloe’s brows furrowed in confusion at Oliver’s actions, “Ollie, we need to figure out who this person is. Maybe if you look over some of the reports you’ll see something that can give you a clue about who’s doing this. It’s possible we can catch him with this…does anything look suspicious or like there’s some kind of pattern that maybe I’m not seeing?” She asked as she pushed the papers back over to him. “One of the tabloids already picked up the story. The headline was _‘Green Arrow, Vigilante Hero or Murderer’_ if we don’t take care of this soon the larger papers are going to start picking it up…We can let that happen.” She said softly.

Oliver shook his head. “Nothing in the reports caught my eye but this person obviously went through a lot of trouble to copy my arrows. I’m sure Hal and the rest of the team will be able to track him down especially if you’re monitoring everything,” he said. He gave Chloe a reassuring smile and then glanced at Tess and Hal. “Seriously guys, this isn’t the end of the world. I’m sure it’s not the first time a bad guy has pretended to be someone else. People don’t know that I was Green Arrow so it’s not like we need to worry about the police thinking I killed these people. It’ll be fine,” he said with a shrug as he reached for his water.

Tess’s mouth fell open at his casual tone. “Do you hear yourself, Oliver? You’re sitting there acting like it’s no big deal that someone who obviously has a grudge against you is impersonating your alter ego and killing people.” When he didn’t say anything, Tess glanced at Hal and Chloe, hoping one of them would be able to talk some sense into him.

Hal studied his friend and pursed his lips as his body tensed. “Maybe it’s about time you and I got out there and started taking care of things,” He said carefully as he watched Oliver’s reaction. “I could use a hand out there and it’s been a while since Green Lantern and Green Arrow teamed up.” He said with half a smile.

Chloe watched Oliver as her hand gripped the papers tightly, her body tensing. He couldn’t mean what he was saying. That was not the response she’d been expecting, then again she should know by now that his responses never were what she expected them to be. But this was Green Arrow. Oliver’s alter ego was a huge part of who he was. He couldn’t be this calm…there was no way.

“I hear myself just fine, Tess. You’re the one who seems to have issues listening,” Oliver said. He’d apologized to Tess for the way he’d acted when he was drunk but he was still angry with her because he knew she’d been the one to send Chloe in the direction of the past in the first place after he’d asked her not to. It didn’t matter that Chloe had handled everything fine; it hadn’t been Tess’s decision to make and he wasn’t going to sit there and let her lecture him about anything.

He turned his attention to Hal and shook his head again. “Look if you need help out there, I’m sure Victor or one of the other guys can give you a hand. If it’s really bad, Chloe can call Clark and he can be here in a few minutes. But I can’t help you.” Oliver’s gaze drifted to Chloe. He could see that she looked confused and he realized that was his fault. He hadn’t been clear enough in his intentions but he planned to set the record straight once and for all so they all heard him. “Green Arrow no longer exists. That part of my life is over,” he said.

Chloe felt a familiar anxiety growing in her chest. She had been studying Oliver day in and out. Watching him pull himself together, get back into a routine, adjust is attitude, and she had assumed he’d been dealing with this in his own way…Getting better, attempting to put the past behind him, but he wasn’t. Oliver wasn’t dealing with this at all. She felt her stomach sink as she swallowed heavily and glanced at the papers in her hand while pursing her lips.

Hal glanced at Chloe when she didn’t say anything and he glared at her. How could she just sit there after that? He turned back to Oliver and shook his head. “You’re wrong. Green Arrow is a part of who you are; you can’t just throw it away like that Oliver.” He practically yelled across the table.

Chloe glanced over at the dark haired man and shook her. “Hal stop,” She said quietly but he ignored her.

“Do you know how many people you save out there every night?” He asked anger on his face. “We’re hero’s people need us. What we do matters,” He told his friend as his chest tightened.

“Hal,” Chloe tried to break in again to get his attention and get him to stop battering Oliver knowing it wasn’t going to work. That’s not what he needed to fix this.

Hal turned his gaze in her direction and glared at her. “What?” He said, his tone harsh. “You want me to stop telling the truth sorry I won’t. Aren’t you his girlfriend? Shouldn’t you be sitting here agreeing with me? Telling Oliver that’s he’s more than this and he’s a hero?” He sneered.

“Instead you’re sitting there like you don’t give a damn that he’s giving up half the person he is.” Hal snorted, “You probably are. Now he’ll have more time to focus on you not that he doesn’t do that enough already right?” He said anger pouring off him in waves. He couldn’t believe this was happening. He couldn’t believe Oliver wasn’t even thinking of giving up being Green Arrow.

Chloe winced and rolled the papers up in her hand. “I think dinner’s over now.” She said quietly, Hal’s words hitting a little closer to home than she would have liked. Yes she’d been feeling insecure lately, but she never wanted Oliver to give up being Green Arrow and she knew deep down that’s not what Oliver wanted either. She was going to fix this. She had to.

Tess placed her hand on Hal’s arm, trying to get him to calm down. She understood why he was angry, but it wasn’t helping. Oliver hadn’t even flinched when he’d started yelling. She briefly glanced at Chloe before meeting Oliver’s eyes across the table. “I get that you’re mad at me and that’s fine. We’ve been friends long enough that I don’t care. Oliver, why are you doing this? Hal’s right. You can’t just stop being who you are,” she said.

Oliver shook his head. “You’re wrong. You’re all wrong,” he said as his gaze drifted from Tess to Chloe. “Don’t you see?” He gestured to the papers in Chloe’s hand. “Whoever is doing this wants to paint Green Arrow as a murderer and maybe he’s right. I know you’re going to say that I didn’t kill Desmond, but I didn’t save him either,” he pointed out. “Who the hell am I to make that kind of choice? Who’s to say that I won’t find myself in that situation again? I can’t do this anymore. I can’t,” he said firmly.

Chloe held up a hand. “Alright that’s enough. Apparently no one heard me over all the yelling but I said dinner is over.” She said quietly. “I think it’s best if everyone just calmed down.” She glanced at Tess and Hal. “It’s getting late guys and I know you still have to drive back to Coast City.” She said while standing. She needed to keep herself calm. She could already see Oliver closing himself off to Tess and Hal and she needed to stay on his good side of none of them were going to be able to help him see that he was making the wrong choice.

“All right,” Tess said. She could see that Chloe was hanging on by a thread and she didn’t want to push her anymore than they already had. She tugged on Hal’s arm. “Come on, we do need to go. I have an early day tomorrow.” She glanced at Oliver and part of her wanted to just go over there and shake some sense into him but she wasn’t sure that would do any good. He might not be drunk or high but he wasn’t Oliver either and that scared her. “Are you planning on coming to work anytime soon?” she asked.

“I’ll be there tomorrow,” Oliver said. He stood up and started gathering the plates. “Thanks for stopping by. Sorry the evening didn’t go the way you planned.” He turned and made his way to the kitchen. He didn’t expect them to understand. Hal, Tess and Chloe only knew how to be the good guy. They only knew what it was like to fight for justice and truth. He’d thought he’d known how to do that too but now he wasn’t so sure. He wasn’t really sure about anything except for the fact that he knew he needed to move on with his life and he hoped his friends would understand that.


	10. Chapter 10

It was nearly seven o’clock when Oliver stepped into the elevator after his first day back at the office after missing nearly two weeks of work. Aside from some tension with Tess, things had gone better than he’d expected them to. It had felt good to get back into the swing of things and handle problems that weren’t literally life and death. He’d gotten through all of his meetings and conferences calls without any issues and he’d caught up on some of the contracts and proposals that had been stacking up on his desk. He felt good, more like his old self again and he was looking forward to spending the evening alone with Chloe. 

Oliver knew the night before had not gone the way she’d expected it to and that was probably his fault for not being more vocal about his intentions. It was also partially Hal’s fault since he seemed to feel the need to yell at Chloe every time they were in a room together. Oliver didn’t really know what to do about that situation anymore. But he wasn’t too happy with Tess so maybe it would just be best if the four of them avoided spending time together for awhile. He figured it would be good for everyone to get some breathing room.

The elevator doors opened into the penthouse and Oliver shrugged off his suit jacket and loosened his tie as he moved through the apartment. “Chloe, I’m home,” he called.

Chloe glanced away from the computer towards the door at the sound of Oliver’s voice. She’d spent most of her day assuring the team that things were okay and having them take care of small issues throughout the city. And after their dinner debacle with Tess and Hal a good portion of her day had been dedicated to researching the three murders to see what she could find out about the person who was attempting to frame Oliver or rather Green Arrow.

Her heart clenched at the thought as Oliver’s words from last night sailed through her head. She still couldn’t believe he’d said that and she wasn’t quite sure what to say about it, but she knew it was something they needed to talk about. She couldn’t just let him brush it under the rug. Chloe needed to know why he’d made the decision that he made even if she was already certain it was the wrong one.

She knew how important being Green Arrow was to him, so giving it up was like letting a piece of himself go and Chloe wasn’t sure what to do about that. She turned on the alerts for the system so it would notify her if any of the searches she was running came back with results along with if there was trouble in the city or the team needed her, and then made her way towards the office door heading into the hallway.

She walked down the hallway and leaned against the wall as she waited for him to make his way towards her. When she caught sight of him she gave him a small smile. “Hey, welcome home.” She said lightly.

“Hey,” Oliver said. The only downfall of going back to the office was the fact that he didn’t get to spend as much time with Chloe and he had missed her a lot. Oliver had texted her a few times between meetings but it wasn’t the same. He wrapped his arms around her and leaned down to capture her mouth with his. When the kiss broke, he rubbed his nose lightly against hers before he straightened to his full height. “How was your day?” he asked. Oliver motioned for her to follow him as he walked down the hall to the bedroom so he could change his clothes.

“My day was busy,” She said casually, “How about yours? Did things go okay on your first day back at the office?” She asked while following him toward the bedroom and shifting in front of him when he stopped moving. She reached up tugging on his tie lightly before lifting it off his head. It was strange seeing him like this. He seemed like Oliver but at the same time it was like a piece of him was missing, which technically it was. The crime rate in the city was going up and Chloe was almost certain the number were just going to keep getting higher until Green Arrow was back on the streets again.

“Yeah, things went pretty smoothly at the office,” Oliver said. He started to unbutton his shirt, but stopped halfway down. He couldn’t read the look on Chloe’s face but there was something off in her tone. She’d said her day was busy and that meant there was something going on with the criminal front. He knew crime was rising even before Tess had left a copy of the Register on his desk that morning. But there was nothing he could do about it. He’d already proven that he did more harm than good. 

Oliver knew Chloe well enough to know that there was something she wanted to talk to him about and she didn’t think he was going to like whatever it was. She always tried for small talk when she was trying to ease him into something and all it did was make both of them tenser. Ignoring his half-open shirt, Oliver took Chloe by the hand and led her to the bed, motioning for her to sit down. “What’s on your mind?” he asked.

She sat and watched him for a minute while attempting to figure out exactly how to approach him about his most recent decision without making him angry. “We never really got a chance to talk last night after dinner about…everything,” She said while meeting his eyes. “I was a little surprised by your announcement there, with the whole Green Arrow thing.” She said lightly. “When you used to talk about what you did…well you always made it sound like Green Arrow was a part of who you were,” She told him with a small shrug.

“So I guess I’m just curious as to why you made the decision you did.” And before he could answer she took his hand in hers. “I’m not judging you, or getting angry, I’d just like to know your reasoning, if you don’t mind telling me.” She said quietly.

Oliver squeezed her hand, rubbing his thumb lightly over hers. “Chloe, I can’t go back out there. I never should have continued after that night with Desmond. I let a man die. It doesn’t matter if he was a bad guy or that he had almost killed my friend and he had killed other people. That wasn’t my decision to make,” he said.

He didn’t really expect her to understand anymore than Hal or Tess understood where he was coming from. But none of them had ever fallen as far as he had. They didn’t have to live with the demons that were in his head. They didn’t have to wonder if they were doing what they did for the right reason or if they were doing it to atone for something they could never take back.

Chloe pursed her lips and nodded. This was not good, but she didn't want to push him anymore tonight. She would think of a way to fix this, but in order to do that she needed him to not shut her out. She saw the way he reacted to Hal and Tess the other night.  
  
Chloe squeezed his hand lightly and gave him a small smile making sure to keep all negativity out of her expression and eyes. "Okay, I respect that this isn't something you feel you can do anymore." She said lightly before an idea sparked in her head. "If you're sure about this, then maybe it's time we get rid of the arrow room." She said quietly.  
  
"If you're really going to be leaving this life behind you, there's no reason to keep reminders around. Plus I could use my own office if you don't mind," she said hesitantly, wanting him to think she was unsure of her idea.

“Is this part of your cleaning kick?” Oliver asked. It wasn’t like Chloe to let a topic drop so easily and he couldn’t help thinking she was trying to get a reaction out of him. “Chloe, if you want to turn the equipment room into a second office, that’s fine but maybe we should wait awhile before we get rid of everything. It might take time to find a place to dispose of it properly. We don’t want to give this guy who is impersonating me a chance to get his hands on the real equipment,” he pointed out.

Oliver stood up and resumed unbuttoning his shirt as he moved toward the dresser to grab a t-shirt. “Have you found any new leads?” he asked casually. Even though he had no intention of getting back out there himself, Oliver didn’t want to see anything happen to Hal or anyone else on the team because of him. He wanted them to catch this guy quickly before he killed someone else.

Chloe arched an eyebrow, "My cleaning kick?" She asked as she crossed her legs and watched his movements from the bed. "You misunderstood me. I didn't mean get rid of it, you have a place you store things don't you? We can put everything there, if you don't mind." She said while watching him get changed.  
  
"I just...I need a space that's you know, mine." She said lightly while glancing down at her hand. She had expected a little more resistance from him. She glanced up and shrugged addressing his other question. "No new leads, still searching." She could see him giving her a strange look through the mirror and she caught his eye, curiosity in her tone. "What?"

“Nothing, I guess I’m just confused,” Oliver said. He unbuckled his belt and undid his pants, pulled them off and tossed them in the dry cleaning bag along with his shirt. “I thought you had everything you needed in the room you use for Watchtower stuff but if you want another room, that’s fine. I’ll find a place to store everything.” He shrugged and pulled out a pair of black sweatpants and a black t-shirt. Oliver didn’t really see how it was going to be useful for Chloe to have two separate offices on opposite ends of the apartment but if that’s what she wanted, he would do it for her.

“I’m sorry you haven’t found anything new. I know that’s frustrating,” Oliver said. He couldn’t tell if she didn’t want to talk about it with him or if there was really nothing to say on the subject. He figured it probably wasn’t his business anymore since he’d told her that he didn’t want to be involved.

She watched him and shrugged. "Well I figured you'd want your office back and I can move all the Watchtower type stuff into its own space." She said. "You know that way you can use your office again, but if you don't mind it there, then that's fine." She told him. "I don't need any more space. You know," she waved her hand. "I'm sorry I even mentioned it. I just want to make sure I'm respecting what you want." She told him with a small smile.

"I don't want you to think I'm trying to force you to do anything you don't want to do. That's all. Maybe I'm just going about it the wrong way," she said softly figuring honesty was probably the best policy, or mostly honest.  
  
Chloe motioned for him to come over to her as she addressed his other question. "It is frustrating not finding anything, but we will eventually. You know me I don't quit until I get my man," she said lightly with a smile and held out her hand to him.

Oliver smirked and took her outstretched hand. “I’ve heard that about you.” He cupped her face with his other hand, brushing his finger over her cheek. “Chloe, you keep saying that you’re trying to respect what I want but I feel like you’re walking on eggshells around me. You don’t have to do that.” Oliver didn’t want her to feel like she had to be some kind of yes woman or something.

That wasn’t who she was and that wasn’t what he wanted. “I know you’re not happy about me choosing not to be Green Arrow. You don’t have to pretend otherwise. This isn’t what you signed up for and I get that you need time to process it.”

She studied his face for a minute as hurt filled her expression. "I'm not walking on eggshells Ollie," she told him. "You got angry at Tess and Hal; I just don't want you to get angry at me too." She told him and shrugged, which was also the truth.  
  
"I might think you're making this decision too quickly, but I also know this isn't my decision to make and I love you no matter what. I'll support you in anything you do...I hope you know that," she said softly while glancing down.

He hesitated and then sat down beside her again; hating himself for the hurt he saw on her face. “I’m not angry with Hal. I didn’t really care for him yelling at me but that seems to be his go to response lately.” Oliver shrugged. He wasn’t worried about Hal. They would get their friendship back on track eventually. He knew Hal might resent him for quitting but he could live with that. It was better than the guilt he was currently swimming in.

“Chloe, I’m not going to get angry with you if you don’t support my decision. You’re allowed to have your own opinion. So are Hal and Tess. But I’m not going to change my mind,” Oliver said. He knew it might seem sudden to his friends, but this was something he should have done a long time ago. He’d just been too selfish to see what he was doing.

Chloe watched him and pursed her lips. "Okay," she said. "Like you said you've made your decision. Why am I going to waste my time arguing with you about it?" She asked as she studied his face. "There's no point to it, so I'm not going to fight you on this one." She said carefully.  
  
"You're a grown man," she told him, "And just because I support you it doesn't mean I agree with you, there's a difference and I can do both." She told him with a small smile while sighing internally at his determination.

“Okay,” Oliver said. He squeezed her hand and gave her a small smile in return. “What do you want to do for dinner? I could order us something. Or we could go out if you want,” he offered. Oliver felt bad that he never took Chloe anywhere. Her comment about being trapped in the apartment all day still bothered him.

Oliver didn’t want her to feel like she was some kind of prisoner. He also didn’t want her to think that he was a terrible boyfriend who never did anything nice for her even if it was true lately. But he was determined to fix that. He wanted to show Chloe that it was possible for them to have some semblance of a normal life especially now that he wasn’t spending his nights jumping from rooftops and pretending he was a hero.

Her face softened as she tilted her head to the side. "Any chance we can order something?" She asked lightly. "I've still got a bit of work to do and if we go out I'm going to be one of those rude girlfriends who keeps her phone out the entire time," she told him with a sheepish smile.  
  
Chloe could see that Oliver had somehow managed to convince himself that this was the best thing for him, but he was wrong and she’d prove that to him eventually. She shifted closer to him and pressed a hand against his leg. "Unless you really want to go out. I can get dressed if you want it’s not a big deal?" She asked lightly while trying to read his expression as she squeezed his leg lightly.

“Staying in is fine with me,” Oliver said. His chest felt tight and he wasn’t sure why. He knew this was the right decision. He couldn’t go back to being Green Arrow and he had to let Chloe continue to do the job he had brought her on to do. She shouldn’t have to pay for his mistakes. No one should have to pay for his mistakes except him.

He leaned down and brushed his lips lightly over hers. “I’ll go place an order and I’ll let you know when it gets here. If you’re busy, I’ll bring it to you.” He flashed another quick smile and started walking toward the door. He suddenly had the overwhelming urge to get some air and he figured he’d call for takeout and then go sit on the balcony for awhile.

"Ollie," she called out as she stood up quickly and frowned, confusion on her face at the anxiety that was filling her chest. Chloe took a deep breath. "I'm sorry...I was just going to say there's a lull before the guys start patrolling...I mean I'm not needed at the moment if you want some company," she said lightly and shrugged. "I missed you today," she said her voice quiet.

Oliver paused in the doorway and looked back at Chloe. She had that hurt look in her eyes again and he wondered what it was going to take for them to be able to have a normal conversation where he didn’t upset her every time he opened his mouth. Oliver knew he was going to have to try harder. He walked back over to her and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her body tightly against his.

“I missed you too, Chloe.” He pressed a kiss to the top of her head as his hand rubbed her lower back. “I was thinking about sitting outside for awhile. It’s not too cold yet.” He pulled back but kept his arm around her waist as he led her toward the door.

Chloe sent him a warm smile. "That sounds nice." She said while pressing a hand against his chest. "Lead the way Romeo," she said lightly while pressing a kiss to his jaw and leaning into his side.

 

 

______

 

Hal winced as he hovered above his apartment building holding his side as he attempted to make his way back home. Normally he changed out of his uniform before he went home, but tonight he was having a bit of difficulty doing that. Hal had gone about his normal in Coast City and half-way through it he got a call ping from Chloe saying the team needed back-up in Star City. He might not exactly be crazy about the blonde, but he never shirked his responsibilities when it came to patrolling.

So he’d flown to Star City and took a few shifts patrolling the city. He didn’t know what the hell was going on, but the criminals had been out in full force. Hal was so exhausted by the time he got back to Coast City that he was caught off guard while attempting to stop a mugging that he caught a knife in the side. The cut wasn’t too deep, but it was irritating enough to be an issue. The guy had then got a few good hits in and that had done him in for the night.

Hal flew up to the balcony of his apartment with Tess and attempted to lower himself carefully, but wound up falling into the chairs they had out there.  He grunted and swore as he tried to lift himself up. Hal hissed in pain and finally gave up. He laid out there on his back glancing up at the stars and sighed. He turned his head and reached out shoving one of the chairs into the glass door gently enough not to break it, but hard enough to get his fiancé’s attention.

“Tess,” He called out. “I’m dying on the balcony…I need help,” He said with another grunt as he held his side and willed his mask to go away. Hal knew he was being slightly dramatic, but he’d been out patrolling for close to six hours and he’d taken down more criminals then he could count tonight. It was almost ridiculous. He sighed and let his head rest against the wood as he continued to watch the sky while waiting for Tess, a small pout on his lips.

Tess heard the crash and had already been rushing toward the balcony when she heard Hal yelling for her. “What happened?” she asked as she pushed the chair he’d fallen over out of the way and knelt down beside him. “Are you okay?” Her eyes widened when she saw the blood seeping through his uniform. Tess willed herself not to panic. This wasn’t the first time he’d come home bleeding and she doubted it would be the last. “Come on, we need to get you inside before someone sees you.” She wrapped her arm around his waist and helped him get to his feet.

He’d been gone longer than usual and Tess knew it was because he was helping cover Oliver’s patrols. She’d read the headlines in the Register that morning about crime being up in Star City over the past few days. She’d purposely left the paper on Oliver’s desk, but he never said a word to her as they prepared for the meeting they had the next day. Tess had attempted to talk to him about the life changing announcement he’d made at dinner, but Oliver had shut her down quickly and made it clear the subject was closed.

She steered Hal into the bathroom and grabbed the first aid kit from the cabinet. “How bad are you hurt?” she asked as she motioned for him to take off his uniform.

Hal used his ring and made the uniform disappear leaving him sitting on the toilet in a pair of boxers. “It’s not too bad I’m just being a little melodramatic,” He grumbled as he gave her half a smile. “I’m tired and it was a long night.” He told her as he shifted so she could see the long gash in his side. “See not too deep, just a pain in the ass,” He said lightly before glancing up at her worried face. “Relax,” he said soothingly, “Everything’s okay, I’m fine. I promise.” He told her quietly, though he wasn’t so sure about Star City. Crime had been getting increasingly worse out there for days.

Tess went to the sink and soaked a wash cloth in warm water and carefully washed the blood away from his side. “You’re right. It’s not deep.” She grabbed an antiseptic wipe from the first aid kit and cleaned the wound before placing a bandage over it. She took Hal’s chin in her hand, tilted him toward her and pressed a light kiss to his lips. “Good as new,” she said before moving away to wash her hands. He was okay this time but she didn’t know if he’d be so lucky next time. She hated that she was worrying so much. Tess knew that this was Hal’s job and he was good at it but the fact that there was a killer out there targeting their best friend made her nervous.

She dried off her hands and gave Hal a small smile as she moved toward the door. “I’m going to make you some tea and you will drink it even if you have to hold your nose and pretend it’s something else. It’s good for you,” she stressed.

Hal arched an eyebrow and used his hands to push himself off the toilet as he reached out for her and wrapped his arms around her waist tugging her against him, careful of his side. “Why exactly are we making me tea?” He asked lightly before placing another light kiss to her lips. He cupped her cheek, coaxing her mouth open as he deepened the kiss.

He didn’t pull back until his lungs burned for air and when he finally did release her, his lips found her cheek. He pressed a kiss there before taking a deep breath and leaning back slightly still holding her against him. He knew she was worried about him and he hated seeing her upset, but right now he was more worried about Oliver than anyone else. He still couldn’t believe even with the raised crime rate that Oliver was sticking to his stupid idea of giving up Green Arrow.

“It’s good for you,” Tess repeated. She wrapped her arms around his neck and rested her head against his chest, closing her eyes for a moment and just basking in the feel of being closed to him. She was tired; they both were and all she wanted was to curl up in bed with him and sleep for a month. But she knew they couldn’t do that because there was work to be done. She pulled back from Hal so she could look into his eyes.

“We need to talk about Oliver. _You_ need to talk about Oliver,” she added. Hal hadn’t said much on the drive home the night before aside from a few rants about how the whole thing was Chloe’s fault. Tess didn’t agree with that but she hadn’t wanted to interrupt him. He’d dropped the subject not long after but then he’d headed out on patrol instead of coming to bed once they’d gotten home. Tess was worried that he was going to explode if he kept everything bottled up inside.

Hal’s brows furrowed as he glanced at his fiancé and he gave a one armed shrug. “What’s there to say?” He asked. “My best friend has decided to give up his alter ego in favor of what? Working more and having a normal life with his girlfriend?” He made a face at the words and took a deep breath. He was hurt and he was pissed off. “I just can’t believe he’s tossing in the towel. Doesn’t he care about the city anymore?” He asked while moving out of her arms and pacing slightly, wincing every once and a while when he pulled at the gash in his side.

“I just don’t get how Chloe can claim to love him and then let him make such a huge mistake. Green Arrow is a part of the person Oliver is. He can’t just give it away.” He said voice once again angry.

“Hal, I know you don’t like Chloe but you can’t make everything her fault,” Tess said. She walked toward the kitchen to get the tea for him. Tess had no idea if it would actually help, but she needed to do something and brewing tea fell into the realm of her limited culinary skills. “Oliver wanted to give up being Green Arrow after everything happened with Desmond and he did for awhile. But at least he stopped drinking.” She figured that was a good start.

“Maybe instead of fighting with Chloe you should trying talking to her and seeing if she has any ideas on how to snap Oliver out of this,” Tess said. She mixed some lemon into the tea and brought it to Hal. “Maybe we all need to concentrate on finding this person who is pretending to be him before Oliver’s cover is blown.” Tess felt like she was the only one who was worried about that particular problem. There was no way any of them would be able to live anything close to a normal life if their identities were unmasked.

Hal followed her into the kitchen not bothering to put on a shirt or pants. “I’ve already done the reach out to Chloe and talk to her thing. I’m not doing it again. It’s her turn. If she wants something from me she can come here and apologize,” He said stubbornly as he plopped down onto one of the kitchen chairs and crossed his arms over his chest like a petulant child.

“And for the record I’m not blaming him wanting to give up Green Arrow on Chloe,” He said pointedly. “I’m blaming her for not helping him see how wrong he is. At least you and I are trying. Who knows what the hell she’s doing.” He mumbled. “We need to try and get him back in the game Tess. Star City isn’t doing great,” He told her softly as he ran a hand through his hair. _He_ wasn’t really doing that great. Hal missed his best friend.

She set the tea down in front of him and then took a seat on his lap, careful to keep her body angled toward his good side. “I think you and Chloe _both_ need to work on putting your differences aside for Oliver’s sake. Hal, I don’t think she’s discouraging him from going back to being Green Arrow. I don’t think she knows what to do. He’s barely speaking to me and I’m sure you’re not his favorite person after you yelled at him last night. Chloe’s probably afraid of saying the wrong thing in case he shuts down completely. No one wants that,” she said.

Tess ran her hand through his hair and motioned toward the tea with her other hand. “Drink that,” she said. “And I’m sorry that things are bad in Star City but I don’t want you doing double patrol every night because it increases your risk of getting hurt and I’m not okay with that. I’d prefer you to be in one piece when we get married if you don’t mind.”

Hal’s face softened slightly as he ran and hand up and down her back. “Yeah I’d prefer to be in once piece too. The wedding night might be sort of difficult,” He joked before his smile faltered and he shook his head. “Like I said if Chloe has something to say she can come here,” He placed a finger over her lip before she could say anything. “I’m still upset. I don’t think now would be the best time for me to talk to her,” He told Tess lightly before glancing at the tea and lifting it to his lips.

He took a sip and made a face putting the mug down on the table. “Someone needs to go out there and do something. I can’t just sit around and watch as everything Oliver worked for as Green Arrow goes down the drain just because his stupid friend was having some kind of identity crisis. He let out a sigh and wrapped an arm around her. “I just don’t know what to do to help fix this. I miss our Oliver,” he said lamely as he tightened his grip on her.

“I know you do,” Tess said. She leaned her head against his as her fingertips traced his chest. “I miss him too.” She’d caught a brief glimpse of him at dinner last night and then he’d retreated once again into whatever hell he was putting his mind through. Tess was relieved he was still in there, but that wasn’t enough. They needed to get Oliver back and they had to do it soon because she knew Hal was right. If Star City was a mess now, things would only get worse if Oliver didn’t pull himself together.

Hal pressed a kiss to the side of her head. “I hate that he won’t let us help him,” He said quietly as he continued to move his hand against her back in a gesture meant to comfort her, but he was pretty sure it was doing more to comfort him at the moment. Having Tess in his arms always had a way of making him feel better.

“I’m worried. The team seems to be doing pretty well following Chloe’s lead, which I guess for now is okay, but we need to figure out a way to knock some sense into him.” He told her quietly, as he leaned back slightly so he could meet her eyes. “How was he at work today?” He asked her lightly as he brushed some hair behind her ear.

“Tense,” Tess admitted. She reached for the tea he was ignoring and took a sip of it herself. “This is not good.” She pushed the cup aside and decided to cross that off her list of things she was capable of making. Tess turned back to Hal. “Oliver made it clear that he didn’t want to talk to me unless it was business related. He handled all the meetings like a pro though. No one had any idea that anything was wrong with him. Even Mary told me how nice it was to have him back in the office.” The older woman was usually good at being able to tell when there was something wrong with Oliver but he’d managed to fool her which meant he was probably fooling himself as well.

“I don’t know what to do. I don’t want to pretend like everything is fine but I don’t want to pick a fight with him either.” She sighed and pressed a kiss to his jaw. “Maybe we should just call it a night and worry about this in the morning.” Tess knew they weren’t going to come up with any magic solutions anytime soon and she wanted Hal to get some sleep before he went out and did this all over again the next night.

Hal frowned but nodded. “I guess, it’s not like the problem won’t still be there,” He said with a short sigh as he glanced at her and gave her a tired smile. He pushed her off his lap gently and stood before jutting his bottom lip out as he tilted his head and glanced at her. “Come on Red, to bed we go, I’m feeling needy come take care of me,” He send before sending a wink over his shoulder and grinning as he held out a hand for her, the throbbing in his side lessoning just slightly.

“You’re always needy,” Tess teased. She slipped her hand into his but pulled him back into the kitchen instead of letting him lead her to the bedroom. She grabbed two aspirin and a bottle of water and handed them to Hal. “Take these first and then we can go to bed and I’ll take care of you,” she promised as she pressed a kiss to his shoulder. She had a feeling a lot of their nights were going to be spent this way until they found a way to get through to Oliver.

Hal nodded and rolled his eyes affectionately, tossing the pills into his mouth and uncapping the water bottle, taking a large sip. “Thanks,” He said voice low as he pressed a kiss to her forehead. “You always do such a good job of taking care of me,” He said with a wink as he took her hand again and tugged her towards their bedroom.

 

______

 

Oliver finished his morning workout and reached for the bottle of water he’d left on the table. He took a long drink as he grabbed a towel with his other hand and rubbed it over his chest and stomach. Carrying the water and the towel, Oliver started down the hall toward the shower as he mentally ran over the list of things he needed to do that day.

 It was Saturday so he didn’t have to go into the office but he did have some contracts to read and he wanted to see if he could convince Chloe to step away from the computers long enough for him to take her out to lunch. He knew she wouldn’t agree to dinner because she needed to be on the com with the guys since patrols had been more difficult the past few days.  
      
Familiar guilt tightened in his chest and Oliver stopped halfway down the hall and turned to walk in the opposite direction. He knew it was his fault things were getting out of control. Not only had he stopped patrolling, but the person who was impersonating him was making people wary of trusting the other heroes.

He’d heard AC talking to Chloe over the com a few nights earlier and AC had said that he’d saved a woman from a mugger only for her to scream and hit him with her purse. Tess had mentioned that Hal had run into some trouble as well but she hadn’t given him any further details since they were barely speaking.   
      
He paused outside the door to his equipment room. Oliver hadn’t set foot in there since the last time he’d been out on patrol and he wasn’t sure how long that had actually been. Oliver twisted the doorknob open and flicked on the light switch, letting his eyes take in the room. Maybe Chloe was right and it would help to get everything out of the apartment. He owned a few storage facilities and Oliver figured he could ask Bart to help him move everything.   
      
Oliver walked to the back wall where he kept his different arrows and picked up one of the arrows that contained knockout gas. There had been another incident the night before where a criminal had been poisoned with an arrow. Chloe hadn’t said anything to him but Oliver had seen the news feed on his cell phone. He turned the arrow over in his hands and wondered if he was making the right decision. Maybe this was what the person who was doing wanted. Maybe he wanted to drive him into hiding and Oliver was giving him exactly that.

He set the arrow down and picked up one of his compound bows. Oliver rarely took them out on patrol because they weren’t practical to carry around but he normally practiced with them. He ran his fingers over the strings and thought about how easy it would be to just put on the suit and get back out there. Maybe he’d given up too soon. Maybe…

His mind flashed back to that night in the water and Desmond slipping away in the current. A real hero wouldn’t have left him there. Oliver’s chest tightened again as he stared down at the bow in his hand. Maybe he was just kidding himself. He was too deep in thought to hear footsteps in the hallway.

Chloe had spent the morning running through results from her searches and helping the guys control issues in the city. She had been on her way to the bedroom to grab something when she saw the door to Oliver’s equipment room open. Her chest tightened and she bit her lower lip before she slowly made her way over to the room pausing outside the doors. She tilted her head to the side and watched him as she fingered the compound bow in his hand.

Chloe swallowed heavily a spark filling her eyes as she watched him in the room. There was no way that Oliver wanted to give up being Green Arrow. She knew him and she knew his life was part of who he was, even if right now he didn’t realize that. It didn’t matter what she had to do, she would make him see that this was part of the person he was…that he was a hero, and seeing him in there now looking the way he did…it gave her hope.

She took a step forward making sure her expression was neutral as she leaned against the doorframe and called out to him. “Hey there Romeo…Everything okay?” she asked softly.

Oliver jumped at the sound of her voice, nearly dropping the bow he held in his hand. He turned around and gave Chloe a sheepish smile. “Hey,” he said. Oliver wondered how long she’d been standing there. He set the bow back on its hooks and turned to face Chloe again. “Yeah, I’m fine. I was just…” He paused, not sure how to explain what he’d been doing. Reminiscing? That didn’t sound like the right word. “I was just thinking,” he said. Oliver figured that was as good a way of any to describe it. “Is everything okay? You’ve been working all morning.” He stopped himself from asking her if there was anything he needed to know about. He’d made the choice not to be part of the team anymore and Chloe respected that. He didn’t need to confuse either one of them by asking for details that were no longer his business.

Chloe paused for a second taking note of his slightly flustered appearance and nodded. "I've got everything under control," she said with a light smile. She glanced around before meeting his eyes. "What's on your mind?" She asked as she moved into the room pausing beside him and rubbing his arm gently.

He didn’t want to tell her the truth; that he doubted himself and the decision he’d made to put Green Arrow in the past. Oliver knew that would get her hopes up and he didn’t want to do that. But he didn’t want to lie to her either. He took her hand from his arm and held it in his as he met her eyes. “I was thinking about the case and the person who is out there pretending to be me,” he admitted. “I hate that this is making it more difficult for everyone else to do their jobs. I don’t want their reputations ruined because of a mistake I made.”

Oliver shifted so he was leaning against the table in the middle of the room and kept Chloe’s hand in his as he spoke. “But I don’t know if there’s anything I can do to fix it. That night at dinner when you first told us about what was happening with the criminals and the arrows, I thought if Green Arrow just went away that it wouldn’t matter. It wouldn’t make a difference if people thought he was a killer because he didn’t exist anymore. I’m not sure I was thinking clearly,” he said quietly.

Chloe's heart soared at his words, speeding up slightly, but she made sure not to let her demeanor change in the slightest. She gave him a sympathetic look and nodded. "That's understandable. You did make the decision rather quickly," she paused, but before Oliver could say anything she continued. "Or it seemed quick to me, maybe it wasn't for you because you've been thinking about it for a while." She said quietly.  
  
Chloe paused, "Honestly though the person impersonating you is frustrating, that's actually not what's causing me grief at the moment. I will find this guy Ollie and the team and I will clear Green Arrow's name. I promise." She told him softly as she cupped his cheek. "Because even if it doesn't bother you it bothers me."  
  
"You might be done with Green Arrow, but that doesn't take away all the good you've done as him. And He was a hero, whether you believe it or not." She told him softly. "And the world deserves to remember Green Arrow that way."

“I love you, Chloe.” Oliver turned his head and pressed a kiss to her palm before wrapping his arms around her waist and holding her tightly against his chest. It meant a lot that she still had faith in him even if he thought it was misplaced. “I appreciate that you’re concerned about my alter ego’s reputation but I’m more concerned about everyone else’s,” he said. Oliver pulled back so he could look into her eyes but kept his arms loosely around her waist.

“But you said there’s something else causing you grief,” Oliver said. “Is there something I can do?” he asked uncertainly. He might not be Green Arrow anymore but he was still capable of helping her if she needed it.

“I love you too.” Chloe said while running her fingers through his hair before arching an eyebrow in his direction and smirking. "Short of putting back on the green leather and tights?" She shook her head, "No." She told him, "But thank you for wanting to help." She said lightly before bending down and placing a light kiss on his lips.  
  
She pulled back and run a thumb under his eye. "How about you? How's your day going? I haven't seen you much," she said while dropping her eyes to his naked chest as she let her hands drop from his head and slide down his shoulders.

“They’re not tights,” Oliver replied automatically. He hesitated for a moment, debating about whether or not he should ask her if things were that bad out there. He knew they were bad, but it wasn’t like Star City hadn’t survived without Green Arrow for long periods of time before. Chloe and the team would handle whatever the problem was. He pushed away his doubts and focused his attention on the woman in front of him.

“My day is pretty good so far,” Oliver said. He trailed his hand over her cheek and then cupped her chin in his hand, tilting her face up so she was meeting his eyes again instead of looking at his chest. “I was going to ask my girlfriend if she wanted to go out for lunch but I need a shower first.” Oliver arched an eyebrow as he squeezed her hip with his other hand, pulling her closer to him. “I’d hate for you to be lonely while I was in there so if you’d like to join me…” His voice trailed off and he leaned down and trailed his lips over her neck as he waited for her to respond.

Chloe grinned as she tilted her head to the side giving him better access to her neck while a look of mock concentration came over her face. "Hmm, I don't know, I mean I am awfully busy..." She said letting her voice trail off as his lips continued to move against her skin.

She could see the hesitation on his face when they talked about Green Arrow and that moment of hesitation had been all she needed to convince her he wasn't sure of his decision, which worked out just fine for her since she thought his decision was crap.

Oliver laughed against her skin. “I guess I’ll have to do whatever it takes to convince you then,” he said. He traced her pulse point with his tongue before sucking the skin into his mouth as his hand moved from her hip to slide over her ass. “I think we should start by getting you out of these clothes. They look rather confining.” He tugged on her hand, pulling her toward the bedroom.

Chloe went willingly, smirk on her lips. Now that she knew he was having doubts she was feeling a lot better about their chances to make him change his mind. She shook herself out of her thoughts and nodded. “Mmhm, they are…and I can think of so many better ways to be confined.” She told him with a mischievous glint in her eye as she winked before letting go of his hand and moving in front of him. “Race you to the shower,” she teased before taking off down the hallway.

Oliver laughed again as he watched her race off down the hall. It was good to see Chloe smiling again. He glanced back at the equipment room one last time and then pulled the door closed behind him. That part of his life was over and he was okay with that. Or he would be. “You’d better be naked when I get there!” he called as he made his way down the hall after his girlfriend.


	11. Chapter 11

Chloe pulled the car to a stop at the red light and glanced out the window briefly. It had been two days since she found Oliver in his equipment room and ever since then she’d been concocting ways to make him realize that being Green Arrow was a part of the person he was. Chloe was pulled from her thoughts at the sound of a honk from behind her. She glanced up and the light was green. She shifted her foot pressing the gas and steering the car down the road toward the Dim Sum restaurant she was meeting Tess at for lunch.

 

She had called the other woman earlier that morning when one of her searches turned up a possible lead into the person who was framing Green Arrow. Chloe made a right turn and continued down the street pulling up in front of the restaurant less than five minutes later. The valet opened the door for her and she thanked him before getting out of the car and walking towards the restaurant.

 

Chloe glanced down at her watch and quickened her pace. She was supposed to meet Tess fifteen minutes ago. Bart had run into some trouble and she had to call in AC for back-up before she was able to leave for lunch. Things were getting worse on the streets as the criminals realized that Green Arrow hadn’t been patrolling in weeks and they were getting braver, coming out at all hours instead of just at night.

 

She shook herself out of her thoughts as she smiled at the hostess before making her way into the restaurant and glancing around looking for Tess. She spotted the red head at a booth in the back of the room and grinned. She hadn’t seen the other woman since dinner the night Oliver announced he was giving up being Green Arrow. Chloe weaved in and out of tables before sliding into the booth and dropping her purse next to her.

 

“Hey,” She said lightly as she sent a smile in Tess’s direction. “I’m sorry I’m late, we had an issue with the team that needed my immediate attention.” She told her as she settled into her seat and met Tess’s eyes. “How are you?”

 

“Busy,” Tess admitted. She gave Chloe a brief smile before she turned her attention back to her cell phone. She finished typing out the email and sent it and then opened another email, scanned the contents briefly and rolled her eyes. She quickly typed out a message to her assistant and forwarded it. “Sorry, things are crazy at the office and my boss isn’t speaking to me. How are you?” she asked.   
    

Her tone was sharper than she’d meant for it to be but Tess was exhausted and annoyed. Hal was coming home later and later each night and he often came home bleeding. Tess wasn’t getting much sleep because she was worried about him. She knew he was hurt that Oliver was shutting him out.

 

She was past being hurt and had moved on to wanting to hit him upside the head until he started making sense again. But she knew none of that was Chloe’s fault and she immediately felt bad for snapping at her. “Sorry, it’s already been a long day. How are you?” she asked again without the irritation in her voice.

 

 

Chloe swallowed hard and gave her a one armed shrug. “It’s okay, don’t worry about it,” She told her softly. She knew things couldn’t be easy on Tess right now. As the days went on Hal had been making his way to Star City more and more to help the team out with the amount of criminals vandalizing the city. Oliver’s absence was being felt not only with the people of Star City, but with the team members as well. Even Chloe felt slightly guilty because even though she’d been trying to think of ways to get Oliver back out there, she’d been enjoying the time he was spending with her. His sole focus lately had been work and her and as much as she hated to admit it, she enjoyed the extra attention.

 

“I’m sorry things have been so hectic lately. I’m trying to spread the guys out and get things under control. It’s difficult. If things don’t let up soon I’m going to have to call in Clark for some patrols and I really don’t want to do that,” She said lightly as she pulled out a stack of papers from her purse and slid them over to Tess. “I’m hoping that maybe I’ve found something that will make things easier for all of us.” She said, her voice low.

 

“I know it’s not your fault, Chloe,” Tess said. She reached for her glass of water and took a long sip. “Everyone is doing what they can. I’m sure no one wants Clark to have to come out here.” Tess had only met Clark a few times in Metropolis but she admittedly was not a big fan of the man. She could only imagine how condescending he would be if he had to come to California and bail them out because they weren’t handling things on their own.  
    

“Please tell me this new information that will make things easier,” she said. Tess was anxious to hear anything good at this point.

 

Chloe motioned towards the papers she had slid across the table to her. “I think I found a lead on the person who’s trying to frame Green Arrow,” She said in a quiet voice. Not long after the words left her mouth their waitress came over and Chloe waited for Tess to place her order before she gave the older woman her order. She smiled and told them it wouldn’t be too long before moving back towards the kitchen.

 

Chloe turned back to Tess and leaned in. “I was able to hack into the police files and find out where they were keeping the arrows that were used in the murders and I had Bart run by and grab a few. He dropped them off with Emil late last night and those,” She pointed to the papers,

 

“Are the results of what kind of chemical was on the arrows. The ingredients, how it was made and all of that. I figured we can cross reference the local purchases of everything and see who bought what and match all of those ingredients to people and then narrow down the list and pull of their faces from the recognition software in the computer.” She told her while taking a long breath. “I figure it’s worth a shot because it’s not like these are common things people shop for.” She said with a shrug.

 

Tess nodded. “This is a good lead, Chloe.” She pulled out her phone again and scrolled through the contact list. “We have an expert who works in one of our labs who should be able to help you narrow down the places these chemicals would be purchased.” She found the number and scrawled it on a napkin before passing it to Chloe. “He’s actually the person we hired to replace Desmond. He’s one of the best chemical experts in the country.”   
    

She hesitated for a moment, not sure if she should ask the next question. But Tess figured they had all been keeping enough stuff bottled inside. “Have you talked to Oliver about any of this? I know he’s shut me down the few times I tried but I find it hard to believe that he’s just taking all of this in stride.” Tess didn’t care how traumatized Oliver was; there was no way the man she’d known for years would just stop caring about everything that mattered to him.

 

Chloe pursed her lips, but there was a slight gleam in her eyes. “I have not mentioned one thing to him about it. I have completely respected his wishes and kept all Team related activities including this to myself and behind closed doors.” She said casually as she reached forward, lifted her glass of water, and took a sip her gaze never leaving Tess’s.  She put the glass back on the table and smiled. “And I think that by doing that I’ve made him slightly curious. He’s asked about the team and about the search and the other night when I told him things were bad he asked if there was anything he could do to help,” She said softly as a frown appeared on her face.

 

“He cares, but he’s trying not to. He thinks he doesn’t deserve to be Green Arrow after the choices he’s made,” She whispered to the other woman. “I found him in his arrow room the other day, just looking at things. He said he was thinking, but I can see that a part of him isn’t sure he made the right choice,” She told her softly, “And I think if we can appeal to that part of him, maybe…just maybe we can get him back.”

 

“I hope you’re right,” Tess said. It was encouraging that Oliver was at least curious about what was going on but she didn’t think it was a good sign that he wasn’t pushing harder for information. That wasn’t like Oliver. He always liked to have a pulse on what was going on with everything and he never missed anything. That’s why it was so hard for her to wrap her head around him wanting to just walk away from it all.  
    

“What about you?” Tess asked. “How have you been?” She hadn’t had much time to talk to Chloe over the past few weeks and she imagined this whole thing was taking a toll on her like it was the rest of them.

 

Chloe shrugged. “Tired, worried. Oliver’s been incredibly accommodating and as much as I love spending time with him even I feel slightly guilty with how much time we’ve been spending together, it’s just not the same. Things are still awkward every so often.” She told her quietly. “He’s Oliver, but at the same time he’s not. He’s missing this huge aspect of himself that every once and a while I can see a spark of, but then it almost always immediately recedes.” She said with a sigh.

 

“I love him and I’m afraid to push too hard because for now he has his mind set on giving up that part of his life blah blah blah,” She said while making hand movements. “I’m trying to figure out a plan that will show him what we already know, but its taking time.” She told her with half a smile as she leaned back into the booth.

 

“Then there’s the team who has no clue what’s really going on and they’re looking for a leader and I have no clue what to say,” She told the other woman quickly before taking a deep breath and sending her a sheepish smile. “So all in all I guess that’s an, I’m fine,” She said while chuckling lightly.

 

“I know what you mean,” Tess said. She was having the same problem with Hal. Tess knew he hated that things were strained between him and Oliver but neither one of them seemed interested in making the first move to fix things. Plus Hal was so busy with his extra patrols that he really didn’t have time to do anything other than work and then come home and go to bed. He kept telling her that he was fine, but Tess knew he wasn’t.  
    

She knew Oliver wasn’t fine either. He was good at being the charming CEO when he was in the middle of a business meeting but she could see that he was faking it and he had other things on his mind. “It’s too bad the men in our lives are so stubborn,” Tess said as she reached for her glass again.

 

Chloe chuckled. “You’re telling me. Lucky for them they have us and eventually we’ll fix what they can’t seem to, because as much as they don’t think so, we’re more stubborn then they are.” She told her while lifted her water to her lips and taking a sip. “So, any news on the wedding?” She asked lightly as she took the number Tess has written down a while ago and placed it in her purse.

 

Tess shook her head. “We’re at a standstill at the moment. Hal and I are so busy and his mom keeps leaving messages telling us that we need to start making plans. I’ve erased most of them but Hal heard a couple. He tried giving her the excuse that we were just busy at work but it’s not really flying with her and since we can’t tell her what we’re actually busy doing she thinks it’s my fault. Hal’s sister-in-law texted me and told me that Hal’s mother thinks I want to back out.” She sighed. It wasn’t like they didn’t have enough problems in their lives.

 

Chloe gave Tess a sympathetic look as she placed a palm over the other woman’s hand. “That’s horrible, I’m sorry she’s giving you such a hard time.” She said before biting her lower lip. “You know if you want some help looking into things I can do a little planning for you. Maybe do some research and send you samples and things that way you aren’t doing it alone and I can cut the time it takes in half?” She suggested.

 

She was after all Tess’s maid of honor and she hadn’t exactly done much to help the other woman with wedding related plans, but now that things were sort of back to normal, she could help more.

 

“I appreciate that, Chloe but it’s not necessary. You already have your hands full with the team and with Oliver. Hal will keep making excuses with his mother and she might be upset now but she’ll get over it when we get married and everything is fine.” Tess knew it sounded harsh but the wedding had to take a backseat to everything else at the moment. Hal understood that and he seemed as annoyed with his mother as Tess was. But this was the life they had chosen and they would keep making excuses for as long as it took to get everything straightened out.  
    

“When this is all over and we find out who is impersonating Green Arrow and you get the real one back on the streets, then we’ll worry about flower arrangements and dress colors,” Tess said.

 

Chloe gave Tess half a smile and nodded. “Okay.” She said as their waitress came back with their food and placed the round bins in front of them. Chloe and Tess thanked her and after she made sure they didn’t need anything else she left them to their lunch. “What else is new?” She asked lightly.

 

“Nothing really,” Tess replied as her phone beeped. “Sorry.” She picked it up and scrolled through the email before sending off a quick reply. “Things at Luthor Corp. are hectic today. Sometimes I think the universe is conspiring against us and then I remember I don’t believe in stuff like that.” She set her phone down and picked up her fork. “Maybe next time we have lunch we’ll have something more pleasant to talk about,” she said. Tess felt like the only time she ever saw Chloe was when there was some kind of crisis. Of course there had been nothing but crises lately so she supposed it was par for the course.

 

Chloe smiled. “That would be nice,” She said as she cut one of her dumplings in half and popped it into her mouth. “Hopefully that day will be sometime in the near future. Or maybe we should just run away for a day and not tell anyone,” She joked before taking a sip of her water. Chloe knew they were all on edge and tense lately and they could all really use a break even though she knew it would have to wait until this while mess was over.

 

______

 

Oliver parked his car across the street from Hal and Tess’s apartment building and cut the engine. He sat behind the wheel for a few minutes contemplating why coming out here had seemed like a good idea when he’d been at work but now he wasn’t so sure. He hadn’t spoken to Hal since the night he’d announced he was done with Green Arrow and Hal had made it very clear that he thought he was being an idiot.

 

In one of her daily snide remarks, Tess had mentioned that Hal was taking the day off work because his body needed time to recuperate from all the stress it had taken over the past few days since he was working double patrols and the ring he wore on his finger didn’t make him any less human. Oliver had ignored her and Tess had stormed out of his office after dropping off some paperwork but he’d spent the next hour with her voice echoing in his head until he finally decided he needed to see for himself how Hal was doing.

 

But as he sat in his car looking up at their balcony, Oliver wondered if he had lost that privilege to be concerned considering what a terrible friend he’d been lately. He knew the team was in over their heads and that was his fault because he’d given up the cause. Oliver still had his doubts that he’d made the right choice especially when he saw how hard Chloe was working each night with the guys.

 

She was keeping her word to him and not giving him any information. Oliver had a feeling she was partially doing it to test him and his resolve. There was probably a part of her that was waiting for him to just put on the suit and get back to work but that wasn’t going to happen. He might have his doubts but all Oliver had to do was remember watching Desmond struggle in the water and he knew he wasn’t a hero.

 

He pocketed his car keys, pushed open the car door and made his way across the street to the building. Oliver knew he wasn’t going to go back to being Green Arrow but he was still Oliver Queen and he needed to make amends with the people in his life starting with Hal. Oliver stepped into the elevator and pushed the button for his friend’s floor.

 

Oliver knew Hal was probably still mad at him but he was going to do what he could to keep his own temper in check. He owed it to his friend to at least hear him out and then apologize for being a dick. The doors opened a few minutes later and Oliver took a deep breath before knocking on the door and hoping his best friend wasn’t mad enough to slam it in his face.

 

Hal was sitting in his favorite chair; legs stretched out in front of him a bag of frozen peas on the back of his neck as he rested it against the back of the chair. His body was slouched down, his eyes closed and he was contemplating how many hot showers he would need to take to make his body stop aching. He had been out extra late last night when a group of gang members attacked a local shelter in Star City.

 

It had taken him, AC, Victor and Bart to clean up the mess. Green Arrow was import to the city, Hal knew that, but he never knew how important he was. It wasn’t just the patrols every night. It was what he stood for. Knowing that there was a hero guarding the city and that he’d be there if you got out of line. Green Arrow was a warning…a staple holding the city together and with criminals thinking he was a murder and had crossed over to the dark side…criminals saw the city as a free for all and Hal was pretty sure that wasn’t going to change until Oliver once again doned the green leather and got back out on the streets.

 

Hal was pulled from his thoughts by a knock on the door. He turned his head and glanced at it trying to will it open with his mind. When that didn’t work he sighed, pushed himself off the couch and made his way over to the door. He yanked it open while one hand still held the bag of peas to his neck. Hal paused when he saw Oliver standing there. He pursed his lips and arched an eyebrow as he leaned against the door. “Oh look, it’s Oliver Queen, CEO billionaire by day, jackass by night…how can I help you?” He asked as he glared at his best friend.

 

Oliver forced himself not to wince. He knew he deserved that and then some. That was why he was there; to get everything out on the table so they could save what was left of their friendship. “Sounds about right,” he said. Oliver tried for a smile but couldn’t quite pull it off. “Do you mind if I come in?” he asked. Oliver wouldn’t really blame Hal if he said no but he didn’t think this was the kind of conversation they should be having in the hallway.

 

Hal watched Oliver closely and he wanted to tell him no, but honestly he just didn’t have the energy to turn his friend away at the moment. He opened the door wider and waved his friend in as he walked back towards his chair. “It’s a free country, why not.” He said as he plopped back down in his chair lacking finesse of any kind. He looked back up and waited for Oliver to move into the room. “To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?” He asked wearily. 

 

“Tess mentioned that you were home today and I wanted to see how you were doing,” Oliver said. He closed the door at his back and rolled his eyes at how lame he sounded. Hal was his best friend. They knew absolutely everything about one another and they had been to hell and back together on more than one occasion. He knew he needed to find a way to fix this. Stuffing his hands in his pockets, he walked into the living room but he decided against sitting down in case Hal decided he wanted him to leave.

 

“I’m sorry about the other night,” Oliver started. He took a deep breath and met Hal’s angry gaze. “I know dinner was a disaster before and after my announcement and that’s my fault. I know you and Tess were just trying to help and I was an ass to both of you. I’m sorry,” he said again. Oliver had a feeling this was going to be one of those times where words were not enough to make things right again, but he knew he couldn’t stop trying until he got through his stubborn friend’s thick skull.

 

“That’s nice,” Hal said as he tossed the bag of peas on the table and shrugged. “You came all the way here to apologize about dinner? Really, Oliver? A phone call would have sufficed,” He told him as he sighed and tried to get the tension in his body to recede. He could see that Oliver was trying and he knew his friend must have come to try and make things right with them otherwise he wouldn’t be there, but there was only one thing that would make things better.

 

“Why did you really come here?” He asked as he met his friends eyes while he lifted his legs up and rested them on the table.

 

Oliver sighed. “I thought I owed you more than a phone call plus I figured it would be harder for you to slam the door in my face than it would be for you to hang up on me,” he said. “Look, I didn’t expect you to welcome me in with open arms and offer me a beer but I don’t want all this tension to linger between us for the rest of our lives.” He chewed on the inside of his cheek as Hal continued to look at him like he was not impressed. Oliver couldn’t really blame him for that.

 

“Do you need anything?” he asked. Oliver thought a different tactic might help. He gestured to the frozen peas Hal had tossed on the table. “I could get you some new vegetables for your neck or order something that you can actually eat. Have you had lunch?” Oliver wasn’t stupid. He knew what Hal wanted him to do; it was the same thing Chloe wanted him to do. But he couldn’t go back to being Green Arrow and he knew he needed to show his friends and his girlfriend that he would still be the same person he’d always been even if he wasn’t trying to save the world.

 

Hal shook his head. “No I’m good thanks.” He said his tone clipped before he sighed and shook his head. He knew he was being harsh. That he was adding more guilt onto Oliver’s plate and he didn’t want to do that, but he honestly had no idea what else to do. Guilt was what cause him to give up being Green Arrow in the first place, maybe more guilty would bring him back. Hal knew it was a ridiculous plan, but what else was he supposed to do? He released some on the tension in his body and looked up at his friend.

 

“I’m not hungry, and I’m pretty sure you know the only thing I actually need from you. It’s rough out there man, it’s getting worse by the day and you’re sitting at home on your ass doing nothing because of one mistake.” He said quietly. “Between work and patrolling Tess and I have barely had time to even talk about the wedding. If it that wasn’t bad enough I have my Mother calling here almost every night telling us we have to move things along and accusing Tess of wanting to back out and not get married.” He said as his brows furrowed.

 

“Do you know how much that hurts Tess even if she doesn’t say it to me?” He asked. “This is ridiculous. I know you’ve got some issues to work through and you’re feeling guilty, but giving up part of who you are is only going to make you miserable…lord knows it’s making everyone else miserable,” He mumbled before pursing his lips.

 

“I’m sorry,” Oliver said. He knew Hal didn’t want to hear it but he didn’t know what else to say. He really was sorry that he was ruining everyone’s lives. Now he understood what Tess had meant when she’d muttered something earlier about Hal’s mother and how she was probably going to be showing up at their doorstep any day now with a marriage counselor. “Hal, I know what you want from me but I can’t do that.”

 

He took a seat across from Hal to keep himself from pacing and met his friend’s gaze once again. “You say I made one mistake like I forgot to zip tie a mugger. I let a man die and because of that someone is murdering innocent people. Each and every one of those deaths are on my head, Hal. That’s not a mistake that I can come back from.”

 

Hal studied Oliver for a minute before sitting up and shifting forward in his seat meeting his friends gaze. “Well if that’s the case and that’s how you see things then maybe you should be out there cleaning up your mess instead of having everyone else clean it up.” He snapped before pushing himself off the chair and making his way into the kitchen. He needed to move so he could keep from throttling his friend.

 

He pulled open the refrigerator and grabbed a beer for himself, popping off the top and moving back into the living room. He sat down and took a long sip before looking back at Oliver. “I really don’t know what you want me to say Oliver. You’re my best friend. But you’re acting like an idiot. You want me to forgive you for being an ass fine. You’re off the hook for that. I’m not angry about that. I got over that days ago. I’m angry at the fact that you’re giving up.” He told him matter of factly.

 

“I’m angry because this isn’t the person you are Oliver and I know you’re hurting, but you’re never going to be happy like this. I know you don’t agree with me…But I don’t care.” He said stubbornly.

 

“Okay,” Oliver said. It was obvious there was nothing he could say to change his friend’s mind and maybe he was just going to have to live with that. He got to his feet again. “I guess I’ll get out of your way then.” He wasn’t going to apologize again because he was sure Hal was tired of hearing it and didn’t believe him anyway. Oliver didn’t expect him to understand. Hal didn’t know what it was like to have someone’s death on his conscience and Oliver hoped for his best friend’s sake that he never would.

 

“If you change your mind about needing something, you know where to find me,” he said as he made his way toward the door. Oliver wondered if it had been a mistake to come out here. He knew Hal was dealing with a lot and maybe it hadn’t been the right time to try and work things out. Maybe there never would be a right time and Oliver would just have to accept that their friendship was something else he’d broken.

 

“Seriously? That’s it? You’re just going to leave?” He said as he pushed himself up and followed his friend to the door. Concern creased his brow. “Really man, what the hell happened to you?” He asked quietly. “You’re the guy who never used to give up until he got what he wanted. When did you become this knock off of the real thing?” He asked, his chest tight. He missed his best friend. The guy who was always there for him, who he could joke with and be an idiot with, instead he was stuck with the piss poor version of him and he had no idea what to do to get him back.

 

“I don’t want to fight with you Oliver…It takes too much energy and honestly I just don’t have it in me lately.” He said as he rubbed the back of his neck. “But you want me to be okay with this, to say I get it and if you’re happy then I’m happy for you and all that bullshit. You’re girlfriend might be okay with doing that, but I’m not.” He said with a helpless shrug not knowing what else to say. He didn’t want to lose his best friend, but he couldn’t’ pretend everything was fine either.

 

Oliver rolled his eyes and turned back to face Hal. “I know you like to blame Chloe for everything that’s gone wrong in our lives, but she agrees with you. She’s not happy; she’s just better at hiding it than you are. Or she thinks she’s better at hiding it but I see the way she looks at me. It’s pretty much the way you’re looking at me right now; like I’ve failed her. I get it, Hal, I do. I screwed up and everyone would feel better if I just went back to being Green Arrow. I’m sorry but I can’t do that for you or for Tess or even for Chloe. What’s going to happen next time I have to make a life and death choice and I make the wrong one again?” He waited a beat, gave Hal a moment to let his words sink in.

 

“I’m sure you think I’m selfish or that I’m throwing myself some kind of pity party but I already did that when I was drowning in alcohol. You pulled me out of that and I appreciate it but that guy you used to know? He’s gone. I know no one wants to hear that but it’s the truth. He’s gone and I’m all that’s left.” Oliver gestured wildly to himself as he spoke; voice hard and almost desperate. He didn’t want to fight with Hal but Oliver wasn’t going back no matter how much everyone else thought they knew what was best for him. None of them had to live inside his head night and day.

 

Hal pursed his lips and opened his mouth. He closed it though and said nothing, instead he shrugged. “Fine.” He shrugged, “Obviously I can’t make you see reason so whatever. I’m going to stop trying.” He said as he turned around and walked back towards the living room. “Feel free to stay, take a load off. I imagine working at the office all day with my fiancé can’t be fun,” He said as he moved back to his chair and sat down. If Oliver wanted to live this lie fine. Hal was done trying to convince him.

 

Oliver hesitated. He doubted Hal actually wanted him to stay and the idea of sitting in uncomfortable silence wasn’t exactly appealing to him. But he knew if he left things would only get worse between the two of them and he really didn’t want that. He made his way back into the living room and sat down in the chair across from Hal again. Oliver watched his friend for a moment, wondering how things had deteriorated this much so fast. It hurt. He missed being able to say anything to Hal and he missed the ease of their friendship. Oliver missed a lot of things about his old life.

 

“There’s probably a game on somewhere. Or highlights from one,” he said finally. Oliver knew they weren’t going to be talking so they might as well watch TV before the deafening silence destroyed them.

 

Hal nodded as he reached forward, wincing slightly while grabbing for the remote. "There probably is," he said lightly. Things weren't okay, but he was tired, sore and he really did miss Oliver's company. Maybe they couldn't agree on his life choices at the moment, but he didn't think watching a game with him would hurt. He turned on the TV and flipped to ESPN. "You want a drink?" He asked quietly.

 

Oliver wanted a drink more than he wanted to breathe at that moment but he knew it really wouldn’t help the situation. “Yeah, I’ll grab some water,” he said as he got to his feet and moved toward the kitchen. He pulled bottle of water out of the refrigerator and forced himself to relax the tension in his neck and shoulders. No one ever said this was going to be easy but it was a good sign that Hal was letting him stay and not biting his head off. Maybe there was still hope that they could salvage their friendship. Oliver took his water back to the living room and settled into his chair, determined to focus on the game Hal had turned on and not on the huge wall that was between them.

 

______

 

Chloe stood in front of the monitors brows creased as she glanced over the statistics from the patrol that the team just finished a few minutes ago. She was quite literally baffled by the numbers. She couldn't believe that there had been _that_ much of a jump in everyday crimes since the last time Oliver had patrolled. The guys were losing morale and they were going from hurt to angry that Oliver had just up and abandoned the mission.  
  
She wanted to tell them that Oliver had his reasons, but doing so would break his trust and that wasn't something Chloe was willing to do. She let out a frustrated sigh and input the numbers into the system to create a long term projection of how bad things would be in the near future if the crime rate kept going up at this pace. It wasn't looking good.  
  
Chloe saved the data, logged off the system and took a moment for herself. She let her body drop into the desk chair slowly as she brought her hands up to rub her temples. Chloe had been positive about the Oliver situation at lunch with Tess, but she was beginning to rethink her optimism. Her boyfriend had come home nearly four hours ago and hadn't said a word to her. It was possible he didn't know she was home or he thought she was busy with Watchtower stuff, but she also knew something was wrong with him.  
  
Chloe wasn't sure how much longer she could do this. She had never lied to Oliver about his decision to give up Green Arrow. She told him she didn't agree with it and left it at that. But it was getting harder and harder to pretend she was okay with the life they were living. It wasn't that she didn't love Oliver for him, because she did. And if she thought for one minute that giving up his alter ego was something he wanted to do for himself with no outside forces influencing him, she might be disappointed, but she'd understand and support him.  
  
But Chloe knew if it wasn't for Desmond and the entire situation that went along with him, Oliver would still be out there protecting this city. He was running because of guilt and pain and a lack of belief in himself and she couldn't get behind that. She wanted the man she fell in love with back, not the shell of him who went through the motions all the while ignoring who he really is. Chloe let out a long breath and ran her hands through her hair before pushing herself out of the chair and moving back towards the computer.  
  
She switched the alerts to mobile mode in case the chemicals weapons expert that Tess gave her the number for called who back or the guys needed her. She gripped her cell phone in her hand and made her way out of the office and into the hall in search of Oliver.

 

Chloe moved down the hallway and spotted the balcony door open. She pursed her lips and walked towards the doors. She spotted him outside leaning against the railing and she watched him for a minute. Her heart clenched at the slump in his shoulders and she desperately wished there was something she could do. But she had literally exhausted all her options. She didn't know how to get him out of his own head and as much as it seemed like everything was fine, it wasn't.  
  
She was worried constantly and she hadn't been sleeping well and attempting to keep the team motivated alone was exhausting. Chloe was running out of options all around and it was getting harder to keep the smile on her face. She shook herself out of her thoughts and made her way out onto the balcony, bare feet hitting the ground lightly. "Hey you, what are you doing out here?" She asked softly.

 

Oliver didn’t say anything for a moment as he closed his eyes and willed himself to pull it together. He’d been avoiding Chloe since he got back from Coast City because after spending the afternoon with Hal he couldn’t handle seeing anyone else look at him with disappointment. He knew Chloe was trying to respect what he wanted but he could see that it was getting harder for her each day and sooner or later she was going to crack. He didn’t want that. He didn’t want any of this.

 

“I’m listening to the sirens,” he told her without turning around. “I came out here a few hours ago and I heard them in the distance. They haven’t stopped all night.” Oliver couldn’t remember a time when things were this bad in Star City. He saw the headlines each morning and he read the crime reports and the steadily increasing numbers. He knew Hal and the others were doing everything they could, but it wasn’t enough. Even the fear that Green Arrow was out there killing criminals didn’t seem to be enough to stop the criminal from coming out each night. It wasn’t safe to travel the streets after dark. Oliver knew if things kept going this way, Star City was going to give Gotham a run for its money as the worst city in the country. Or the best, from a criminal’s stand point.

 

 

Chloe stood next to him quietly for a minute and leaned forward resting her arms against the railing while trying to decide how to approach the situation. She'd tried the understanding approach, the supportive approach, guilt...Maybe it was time she tried a little tough love. She gave him a sideways glance. The only problem was she wasn't sure he could handle that at the moment. She could practically see the alienation on his face and she wanted nothing more that to make it go away.  
  
"You need to stop doing this to yourself Oliver." She said the words lightly but her expression was serious. "It's not healthy to stand here and torture yourself." She told him quietly. "You gave up being Green Arrow because you feel guilty...because you feel like you don't have a right to be, I get that." She said while looking at him.  
  
"But the whole point of doing that was to get rid of that guilt or ease it or to make you more at peace, I don't know," she said quickly while turning and leaning her back against the railing so she was facing him. "Yet here you are, the same guilt in your eyes just aimed in another direction." She said softly.  
  
"I get you feel bad, but you made this decision Ollie, either you're going to stick with it and move on or you're going to come back and go out on the streets again. No matter what you do, you're going to feel like you’re letting people down." She told him with a small shrug.  
  
"It's hard seeing you so unhappy and honestly Ollie I don't know what to do. I don't know how to make you happy anymore..." She said letting her voice trail off.

 

Oliver nodded but didn’t say anything as he continued to stare off into the distance while the wail of sirens echoed through the night air. He knew Chloe was right. He was torturing himself. He’d been standing out there for hours listening to people suffering and not doing anything about it. He’d stood there letting the guilt eat away at him but he wasn’t doing anyone any good. Hal and Tess had each made it clear to him how useless they thought he was and even though Chloe wasn’t coming right out and saying the words, Oliver knew she felt that way too.

 

He turned sideways against the railing so he was facing her and Oliver could see how tired she was. He knew it wasn’t just from work either; she was tired of dealing with him and he couldn’t blame her. “I went to see Hal today. He’s pissed at me – rightfully so – and he pretty much told me that was never going to change as long as I keep hiding out and letting everyone else clean up my mess. Is that what you think I’m doing?” Oliver asked.

 

Chloe studied his expression closely and chose her words carefully. "First, I do not think talking to Hal was the best idea," she said sincerely as she caught his gaze making sure he knew that she was serious. "Second, I think you're doing what you feel you need to." She said with a shrug as she tilted her head to the side.  
  
"Whoever this person is messing with you, they've found your weakness and they're exploiting that. I think they are intentionally trying to shake you and make you doubt yourself." She said carefully. "Somewhere along the way you started doubting your judgment and your ability to do this job. Your faith in yourself wavered." She said quietly pausing for a moment to let him take that in.  
  
"I think it's so hard for Hal and Tess to accept this because their faith in you and what you represent has never wavered. They've known you for years and they've seen what you represent to people...to the city." Chloe swallowed heavily and ran her hands up and down her bare arms as a light breeze blew.  
  
"Add on that they can see how much you're suffering and sometimes it makes people frustrated and when people are hurting and lost they lash out to the people who mean the most to them." She told him pointedly. "If this is how you plan to live your life they'll get over it eventually and come around because they love you." She told him quietly.  
  
She glanced away from him and shifted. "As far as other people cleaning up your mess that's not a statement I agree with and Hal is seriously starting to tick me off," she said her jaw clenching. "Contrary to popular belief this is _not_ your fault." She held up a hand. "And before you say anything, let me just stop you now. No matter what you say you aren't going to convince me this is your fault just like no matter what I say you won't stop thinking it's your fault, so let's just agree to disagree on that point." She said finitely before hesitating.  
  
"As far as the hiding goes...honestly I think you're hiding from yourself. I know you’re telling me and everyone else this is what you want and I swear to you if I honestly believed that, I would stand by you and I would understand. But I don't believe this is what you want." She said softly.

 

“Maybe not,” Oliver said quietly. He shrugged off the hoodie he was wearing over his t-shirt and draped it over Chloe’s shoulders, motioning for her to put it on. There was no point in ignoring what they both knew was true; what they both knew had always been true. There was a part of him that wanted to go back to being Green Arrow; a part of him that never stopped wanting to be the hero he’d always believed he could be. But that part was heavily overshadowed by the part of him that could not get past the fact that he had stood by and watched a man die and now someone else was killing people to punish him for that.

 

“Don’t be too mad at Hal,” he said. “I think he was just trying to make a point.” Oliver shifted against the railing again so he was facing the city. “I hate what’s happening out there, Chloe. I hate that I’m just standing here and letting my girlfriend and my friends work themselves to death because I don’t have the strength to fight anymore. But every time I think about going back out there all I see is the chaos I’ve caused. How can I call myself a hero when I’ve done so much harm?” he asked.

 

Oliver had been asking himself that question a lot over the past few days. He’d been trying to convince himself that he could balance the good with the bad, but he wasn’t so sure it worked that way. If he saved hundreds of people, did that make up for the one life he had let slip away? Or the lives that had been taken because of Desmond’s death? Did he have any right to call himself a hero if he was out there doing penance for his mistakes? Oliver didn’t think it was fair to people like Hal or Victor for him to fight the good fight alongside them when he had done so much damage.

 

Chloe slipped her hands into the hoodie as she listened to his words. She gave him a thoughtful look before taking a hesitant step closer to him so she was standing between him and the railing. "I'm sure Hal was trying to make a point, but I'm irritated with him for other reasons too," she said lightly. "But that's beside the point," she said as she waved the topic away before resting a hand on his arm.  
  
"I know you hate it Ollie and it kills me to see the guilt slowly eating away at you more and more each day. I'm not the type of person who does well with not being able to help the people they love. Maybe you're looking at it the wrong way," she said softly as she met his eyes.  
  
"No one is asking you to be a hero. You're only human Oliver and people make mistakes. Sometimes horrible life changing ones. But in the end it's not the mistake that matters. It's what you do after the mistake that counts. You've spent these last three years saving people. Think of all the lives that would have been lost if you quite being Green Arrow then." She said lightly.  
  
"Think of all the lives that would have been untouched. You gave AC, Victor, and Bart a purpose. You gave _me_ a purpose again. Stop trying to fit yourself into this mold of a hero and just be a man who makes mistakes and helps where he can. That's all anyone can ask." She told him as she rubbed his arm lightly.  
  
"The choice you made about leaving Desmond out there...it was a split second decision and it's plagued you all this time. If you had that moment to do over...would you change history? Would you save him?" She asked as a cool breeze whipped around them.

 

“Yes,” Oliver replied without hesitation. “But it’s not like I can go back and change what I did, Chloe. I know now that it was a mistake and I don’t see myself making it again, but what if I make a different mistake? You’re right; I made that choice in the moment. But what’s going to happen when there’s another moment and I have to make a choice and I’m afraid to trust my instincts? That’s the kind of thing that’s going to get me or someone else killed,” he said.

 

Oliver wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer to him, trying to keep her warm as the breeze picked up once again. He knew they should probably go inside, but he felt better when he was outside. He wasn’t sure why. “I hate that I’m hurting you and I know I’m hurting you,” he stressed before she could deny it. “I’ve done nothing but fail you since you moved here with me, Chloe.” He leaned down, resting his forehead against hers as he looked into her eyes. Oliver loved her so much and he wanted to make things better for her but he didn’t know if he could.

 

“What if I go back out there and end up making things worse?” Oliver asked. “What if that’s what this guy is waiting for? He knows who I am but he hasn’t come after me. He hasn’t tried to expose my identity and he hasn’t sent me any more boat memorabilia.” Oliver didn’t know what to think about that. The guy had obviously wanted his attention but it seemed like he’d gotten bored with his own plan.

 

Chloe reached up and cupped his cheek wishing she could answer all of his questions. She didn't know what the person was waiting for, but she'd had a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach for days. Whenever there was a lull with someone trying to get their attention it was never good. "I don't know why he's stopped, but I do know he has a plan. A person doesn't wait three years to do something like this to get bored. He's waiting, biding his time, trying to lull us into a false sense of security or something, but it's not going to work." She told him.  
  
"I'm so close to finding him that I can taste it," There was a slight gleam in her eyes as she caressed his cheek. "And when we find him this will all be over." Chloe moved closer to him and rested her other hand on his chest. "I have two more things I'm going to say about this and then I'm going to take you inside and make you forget about everything that isn't me," she whispered.  
  
"One, I want you to go over everything you've told me tonight, especially the part where you'd take back what happened if you could and think about how many people would willingly save a known murderer. Because I guarantee you nine out of ten people would let him die all over again and call it a service to the world." She said as she placed her finger over his lips to keep him from saying anything.  
  
"And two, I know you aren't going to make the same mistakes as before or any one like it because you have something now that you didn't have three years ago," she said and paused while meeting his eyes. "You have me." She whispered. "And I will always be in your ear to ground you Oliver. You can trust _me_." she told him softly.

 

Oliver smiled as he tightened his grip around her. “I do trust you, Chloe. I trust you with my life,” he told her before leaning down and brushing his lips over hers. He kept the kiss light because he was afraid if he let himself get lost in her, he wouldn’t be able to get his words out. Oliver pulled back and met her eyes once again. “I love you and it means so much to me that you’ve been on my side throughout this whole mess even if you didn’t agree with the decision I made.” He knew she’d been frustrated with him more than once but she’d still been there for him and he would never forget that.

 

“I’ll think about what you said,” Oliver promised. “I’ll think about what I said too but I can’t promise you that I’m going to come to the conclusion you want me to.” Chloe’s unshakeable faith in him meant everything to him, but Oliver knew if he was going to go back to being Green Arrow he was going to have to find a way to restore the faith he’d once had in himself. He still wasn’t sure he was capable but he knew he needed to make a decision once and for all because torturing himself wasn’t helping anyone.

 

“Now that we’ve got all of that out of the way, you mentioned something about making me forget everything that isn’t you?” Oliver arched an eyebrow as a small smile played across his face. “I have to tell you I don’t think that will be too difficult to arrange,” he said.

 

Chloe chuckled lightly and slid her arms around his neck as she stood on her tip toes and pressed a kiss to his jaw. “I love you too and that’s definitely what I like to hear,” She said before trailing her lips towards his ear and sucking it into her mouth. “Tonight is all about you Romeo,” She said in a low voice before dropping her hands and letting them trail down his chest. “I’m all yours until morning,” She slid her hand under his shirt and caressed his stomach while sending a smirk his way.

 

Oliver groaned at the feeling of her mouth on his ear as his muscles immediately clenched under her fingertips. “Well in that case, we’d better not waste any time.” He smirked at her as he lifted her into his arms and carried her into the apartment, kicking the door shut behind him. True to his word, Oliver had already pushed everything except Chloe out of his head and he fully intended to show her just how much he loved her for the rest of the night.


	12. Chapter 12

“Thanks Jack, I’ll get back to you soon,” Oliver said. He hung up the phone and let out a long sigh. He’d been on the conference call for nearly two hours and he’d been giving serious consideration to banging his head against the desk a few times. He hated doing business with Jack Brewster but he was one of the best steel manufacturers in the business and Oliver had little choice but to listen to his gripes and complaints and then haggle over contracts with him. Their conversation had basically gone in a circle and Oliver found himself wishing he still had a bottle of scotch in his desk.

Feeling the urge to move, Oliver pushed his chair back from his desk and made his way to the outer office. His assistant had called in sick that day which was almost unheard of for her. He made a mental note to send her flowers and headed out toward the elevators. He was considering getting out of the office for lunch and then he caught sight of Tess’s assistant hurrying in the other direction.

Oliver sighed again. Smoothing things over with Hal hadn’t exactly gone as planned but he knew he needed to talk to Tess too. Oliver walked into her outer office, hesitated for a second and then knocked on her closed door.

“Come in Stella,” Tess called. Her eyes were focused on the computer and she didn’t bother looking up when the door was opened. “If you have contracts, give them to Oliver. I’m too busy to sign anything right now.” She was trying to finish up some things for Luthor Corp. so she could get back to working on a lengthy proposal for an upcoming meeting.

Oliver hesitated again. He knew Tess was bogged down because he hadn’t been a lot of help lately. Even though he’d been putting in a lot of hours at the office, it was taking him longer to get through tasks because his head wasn’t in the game. He was too busy thinking about whether or not he was making the right decision by walking away from Green Arrow. That was something he wanted to talk to Tess about. “Can you take a break?” he asked.

Tess’s head shot up in surprise. Oliver had been going out of his way to avoid her unless it was absolutely essential that they talk and then he’d kept the conversations focused on business. Hal had told Tess about Oliver’s impromptu visit and she was glad that he was at least making some effort to bridge the gap between them even though Hal wasn’t sure it had done any good. “It depends. Did you come in here to lecture me or talk about business?” she asked.

A small smile played on Oliver’s face. “No, Tess. I came to talk to my friend…assuming you still want to fall into that category,” he said. Oliver wouldn’t blame her if she didn’t. He hadn’t been very nice to her since he’d found out that she’d told Chloe about Desmond. He knew why she had done it and he couldn’t really blame her considering the circumstances.

“Oliver, if I stopped being friends with you every time you did something stupid, we would have stopped speaking a long time ago,” Tess pointed out. She gestured toward the couch and got up from her chair to take a seat beside him. “What’s on your mind?” she asked.

“That was touching, Tess,” Oliver teased. He relaxed a little as he shifted to he was facing her. “I owe you an apology,” he started.

Tess rolled her eyes. “You owe me several apologies but I’m not interested in any of them. I want my friend Oliver back.” She held up her hand when he opened his mouth. “I’m not talking about Green Arrow, although we need him too. I’m talking about my best friend, the guy who saved my life and gave me a chance to start over after one of the worst experiences of my life. That guy isn’t perfect but he’s a lot better than the shell of a person who has been sharing office space with me lately.” She knew she was being blunt but it was the truth. Tess wanted him to see that it wasn’t just Green Arrow that he had given up on. He’d given up on himself and it was hard to watch.

Oliver was quiet for a moment as he let her words sink in. Tess had never been one to put things delicately or worry about other people’s feelings. It was the reason she’d been making snide comments and sarcastic remarks each time she saw him for the past few weeks. Oliver had been annoyed more often than not but now that he’d had some time to think, he couldn’t help but appreciate what she’d been doing. “I’m surprised you didn’t actually hit me over the head with a blunt object,” he said.

“There’s still time,” Tess replied. She rolled her eyes again and then she smiled. “Are you finally ready to take your head out of your ass?” she asked.

“Maybe,” Oliver said quietly. “I’m sure Hal told you about our afternoon. I had a long talk with Chloe last night.” He filled Tess in on his concerns and why he was so hesitant to go back to being Green Arrow. Then he told her what Chloe had asked him and how she’d promised to look out for him. “I trust Chloe but I’m not sure I can trust myself,” he admitted. That was the problem he kept coming back to. He knew Chloe wouldn’t let him down. He knew Hal and the rest of the team wouldn’t let him down. But what if he let them down again?

“Are you looking for my opinion or do you want advice?” Tess asked. She could see how much he was struggling and it was painful to watch. The Oliver Queen she knew was confident to the point of cocky and it worked for him. He took chances and he wasn’t the kind of person who quit ever. Fear wasn’t something that held him back until recently.

“Both?” Oliver replied uncertainly. “I think I just need my friend Tess back,” he admitted.

“Green Arrow is a big part of who you are, Oliver but you don’t need to put on tights and carry a crossbow to be a hero. You saved my life without them. There was no reason for you to step between me and that gun but you did it without hesitating and there’s not a doubt in mind that you would do it again for any stranger on the street who was in trouble. Chloe is right. This isn’t about being a hero. You’re always going to be a hero no matter how far you think you’ve fallen. That’s not just my opinion either; that’s fact,” Tess said. She gave Oliver a moment to process everything she was saying before she continued.

“My advice is to suck it up and get back out there. Hal and the rest of the team need your help. Star City needs your help. Chloe needs your help. I need your help. You’re the leader, Oliver. We’re all just treading water without you and yes, I realize the analogy I just used,” Tess said when she saw him wince. She reached for his hand and squeezed it tightly. “I would have let him die and I wouldn’t have felt bad about it.”

Oliver shook his head. “You don’t mean that, Tess.” He knew she was trying to make him feel better and he appreciated that but he didn’t believe that she would be okay with killing someone. “It’s not an easy thing to live with.”

“I didn’t say it was,” Tess replied. “But that man killed five people because they knew he was crazy and then he tried to kill me because he thought it was the best way to get to you. Oliver, I hate that you have to live with this guilt but I’m not sorry he’s gone. I’m sorry that some other sick freak has decided to pick up where he left off but that is not your fault either. But do you know what is your fault?” she asked.

“I’m sure you’re going to tell me,” Oliver said.

Tess nodded. “You’re right. It’s your fault that you’re letting yourself fade away. Hal and I have tried to reach you and I know Chloe is doing everything she can to keep you from slipping over the edge. It’s your turn now. It’s your turn to step up and remind everyone who you really are. And by everyone, I mean you,” she said pointedly. “The rest of us haven’t forgotten as easily as you have.”

“Do you really think it’s that simple?” Oliver asked. It sounded all well and good when Tess spelled it out for him but it wasn’t that easy to just turn off his mind and forget the memory of leaving Desmond to die in the water. It also wasn’t easy to forget the names and faces of all the victims the copycat killer had murdered to get Oliver’s attention.

“Of course it’s not simple,” Tess replied. “Nothing we do is simple. But what good are you to anyone in this condition? Oliver, if you keep going down this delusional path sooner or later you’re going to break and we might not be able to put the pieces together. You know I’m right,” she said. She could see it in his eyes. He wanted his old life back but he was letting fear stand in his way and that was something Oliver had never done before.

Oliver nodded. Tess was saying the same things Hal had said and some of the same things Chloe had said and he knew they were all right. He was never going to be satisfied sitting on the sidelines and he would never be happy if he let the guilt win. There was a part of him that thought he wasn’t supposed to be happy but Oliver knew if he continued living this way, he was only going to hurt Chloe and everyone else he cared about more than he already had. Maybe he wasn’t supposed to do this for himself. Maybe he was supposed to do it for them.

“I know you’re busy but do you want to get out of here for awhile? We could grab lunch or something,” he suggested.

“I suppose I can spare some time for you,” Tess said. She held onto his hand when he started to get up and waited for him to meet her eyes. “You know none of us would be trying this hard to get through your thick head if we didn’t love you so much.”

Oliver gave her a small smile and pulled her to her feet. “I know. Thank you,” he said. “Now can we please talk about something else?” He still had a lot to think about but at the moment all he wanted was a break from the constant indecision.

“Sure. We can talk about my wedding and how nothing is planned and you might as well add that to your arsenal of guilt,” Tess said. She grabbed her purse and her cell phone from her desk and linked her arm through Oliver’s. “How do you think Hal would feel about eloping?” she asked.

He laughed as he pulled open the office door. “If anyone can convince him, it would be you.” Oliver led her toward the elevator and felt like some of the weight had been lifted from his shoulders now that things were back on track with Tess. He knew the rest was up to him.

 

______

 

Chloe sat in Oliver’s car, her head resting against the seat as she glared up at the apartment building. She had spent the morning talking to John Stalema , the chemicals specialist from Queen Industries. He was able to help her narrow down the stores where all the different chemical agents could be purchased and explained to her that some of the more rare substances would need a license to purchase them. Meaning whoever was buying the ingredients would be put into a database whenever they used their License ID to purchase different chemicals.

After a few hours of narrowing down the stores with John she was left with four local stores. She had hacked into all four databases and a list was currently compiling back at the penthouse of all the people who purchased the chemicals they were looking for. Once that was done she was going to take all the names and run them through Watchtower’s database to get photo pictures and profiles, which should help narrow down the search even more.

Chloe was knocked out of her thoughts by a honking car. She jumped slightly and glanced to the side where she saw two cars that had almost crashed into each other. She shook her head, unbuckled her seatbelt, and got out of the car using the keyless entry to lock it before heading towards the apartment building. Aside from the reason she was coming to talk to Hal, she was actually in a good mood.

She and Oliver had stayed awake practically all night long. Chloe had almost forgotten how ridiculous his stamina was. And then if that hadn’t been enough she’d been woken up very enthusiastically that morning and he’d managed to make her come twice before he even got in the shower got out of bed. Chloe grinned at the thought as she walked into the building, through the lobby and stopped in front of the elevator, giving the button as quick push.

The doors slid open and she moved inside and pushed the button. She tapped her foot and waited as the elevator jerked to a start. Chloe glanced in her purse and checked to make sure she had the folders for Tess. She figured she could drop them off and leave them with Hal after she was done yelling at him.

The elevator chimed and Chloe moved out and made her way towards Tess and Hal’s apartment. She stopped in front of the door and lifted her hand to knock, but raised voices from inside had her pausing before her hand connected with the door. She paused brows furrowing as she leaned in slightly trying to hear what was going on. Chloe was pretty sure Tess was still at work which was why she’d come now.

Her eyes widened when she heard Hal’s voice shout ‘Mom’. She pressed a hand against the door and from what she could hear Hal’s Mother was yelling at him about the wedding and Tess and a few other things. Chloe couldn’t hear everything, but she could hear enough to know why Tess had been so stressed the other day. She took a deep breath and knocked loudly on the door.

Hal had spent the last thirty minutes listening to his Mother yell about how Tess was trying to ruin the wedding and how she didn’t want her help and he should get out while he could and it was literally driving him insane. He was about two minutes away from telling her that the reason their wedding was on hold because he was too busy flying around the city fighting crime even though she’d probably faint if she ever found out he was Green Lantern. He pinched the bridge of his nose as she started in on another tirade about Tess right as a loud knock sounded on the door.

Hal had never been so relieved in his entire life. He held up a hand and moved towards the door pulling it open. He frowned when he saw Chloe standing there. He opened his mouth and started to tell her this wasn’t a good time when she pushed passed him holding several folders in her hand. He blinked as she walked into his house and started talking a mile a minute as confusion filled his face.

“Okay so I have a list of four of the best catering companies in Star City and two from Coast City. I also managed to squeeze Tess into an appointment with Zoe whatsherface she owns that dress shop in Star City, the big one,” She said while glancing at Hal, “that way she can discuss the design of her dress with her and she asked me to get a list of…” Chloe’s voice trailed off as her eyes landed on the older woman in the room.

She placed a hand to her chest, her eyes widened as she gave the other woman a mock surprised look. “I am so sorry; I didn’t realize you had company Hal. I know Tess is at work and I was in the area I just wanted to drop off some of the wedding plans that we’ve been going over,” She said lightly before turning towards the other woman and giving her a bright smile.

“Hi, my name is Chloe; I’m Oliver’s girlfriend and Tess’s maid of honor.” She said while holding out her hand.

Jessica Jordan glanced at the blonde and then towards her son before her eyes fell back on Chloe and she moved forward rolling her eyes. “Apparently my son has lost his manners,” She told her while taking the other woman’s hand. “It’s nice to meet you Chloe…I didn’t realize that you and Tess were planning the wedding together,” She said hesitantly before glancing at Hal who gave her a sheepish smile.

Chloe nodded while releasing the other woman’s hand. “Well we were getting some numbers and thoughts together to put into a little book so that Tess can bring it over the next time you were all able to have dinner. She has a few things she wants and stuff she doesn’t since she and Hal really wanted to try and keep the wedding small, but it was really important to her that you be involved.” She said before touching Jessica’s arm lightly.

“She’s told me so many wonderful things about you. She’s really looking forward to officially being a part of your family,” Chloe told her warmly.

Jessica’s face softened as she patted Chloe’s cheek. “Well aren’t you a dear. I’ll tell you what since my son is so helpless,” She sent a glare Hal’s way before glancing back at Chloe, “the next time we have dinner you and Oliver should come and us ladies can go over wedding plans.” She said the excitement back in her eyes.

“Oh Mrs. Jordan, I’d love that,” She said her voice cheery as she grinned at the other woman before sending Hal a pointed look before turning back to his Mother. “Well I should go I didn’t mean to interrupt you guys…” She let her voice trail off and Jessica waved her off.

“Oh no, I’ve been here way too long. I was just stopping by.  I’ll leave you to be to discuss the wedding just make sure you bring that book over so I can help you girls with the planning.” She said with a smile and she walked over to Hal and gave him a kiss on the cheek. “Bye sweetheart, I’ll see you guys soon.” She said before calling out a goodbye to Chloe.

“Bye Mrs. Jordan,” She called back as Hal shut the door behind his Mother. He paused blinking trying to figure out what the hell had just happened. Chloe had just saved his ass. Not only that, but she’d covered for Tess and made his Mother smile again. He shook his head baffled as to why she’d do that when he’d been such a prick lately. Hal turned around and rested his back against the wall as he glanced at Chloe.

She tilted her head to the side and crossed her arms over her chest while arching an eyebrow at him. “What?” She asked confused as to why he was looking at her like that.

Hal shook his head and pushed himself away from the door as he walked towards her, his hand going to the back of his neck. He had no idea what to say to her. His Mother meant a lot to him just like Tess did and it was so hard hearing his Mother talk about the woman he loved not being good enough for him and wanting to leave him and now because of Chloe he wouldn’t have to deal with that anymore. “Thank you,” He said quietly.

Chloe studied him for a minute and nodded. She hadn’t actually done it for him, she did it because she knew Tess was dealing with a lot lately and she hadn’t the other woman to have to come home today and deal with this too. “I didn’t do it for you.” She told him pointedly and she took a step closer and shook her head. “Don’t say anything. Look I know you got a raw deal and I’m sorry about Metropolis I honestly am,” She said as she placed the folders on the chair.

“But I am done apologizing about the past. You’ve been rude to me and to Oliver, someone who is supposed to be your best friend. I know it’s hard to see him so lost and I also know how hard it is to go out there every night even when he’s not out there, but taking this out on me and making Oliver feel worse…it’s not helping.” She told him quietly. “He needs us Hal, _all_ of us. So I really need you to stop fighting me so much and I need an apology.” She told him while crossing her arms over her chest again.

“Because from this point on I refuse to be your punching bag. You don’t need to like me, but you will respect me and you’ll stop being such an ass to Oliver. He’s always been there for you, good and bad, he deserves the same loyalty back…are we clear?” She asked while arching her eyebrow.

Hal was stunned. He stared at the tiny blond in front of him, mouth open eyes wide. She had a set of balls on her bigger than any guy he knew. He scratched the back of his head before meeting her eyes and nodding. “You’re right,” He said quietly, his chest tightening as he thought back to the way Oliver looked when he’d come to talk to him yesterday. He was pissed and hurt, but so was Oliver and right now his friend was lost and he needed the people who cared most about him to stick by his side.

He swallowed hard and glanced at Chloe. “I’m sorry I’ve been an ass. I know everything isn’t going to be worked out with one talk, but for what it’s worth…I think I’m finally getting a glimpse of why Oliver seems to love you so much,” He said quietly. It was going to take him a while to be friends with Chloe, but after what she did for him today the least he could do was stop being such an asshole to her.

Hal took a few steps closer to her and held out his hand while giving her half a smile. “What do you say Blonde…Truce?”

Chloe studied the man in front of her for a second before taking his outstretched hand and giving him a small smile. “Truce,” She said lightly. It wasn’t a huge declaration of friendship or undying trust, but it was a start and that was something.

 

______

 

It was a little after eight when Oliver walked into the penthouse later that night. After his lunch with Tess, he’d spent the next few hours working but his heart hadn’t been in it. Oliver had decided to go for a drive and he’d found himself in Santa Monica. He’d driven past the pier and remembered the night he’d spent there with Chloe when things had been carefree and easy between them.

He’d thought about the way she’d smiled that night and how happy he had been. Oliver missed that. He missed seeing Chloe smile without the constant worry in her eyes. He missed being able to talk to her without her censoring herself because she was worried she was going to say the wrong thing and make him angry. He missed the closeness they used to have and he knew without a doubt that it was missing because a part of him was missing.

Oliver dropped his keys on the front table and shrugged off his leather jacket. He knew Chloe would already be in the office, running through the nightly patrols with the guys. He glanced toward his equipment room and then moved in the opposite direction toward the office. He could hear Chloe talking to one of the guys on the com. He paused outside the door and waited for her to sign off before he cleared his throat to let her know he was there.

“Hey Sidekick,” Oliver called lightly. “Can we talk?” he asked.

Chloe jumped, startled by Oliver’s voice before a small smiled broke out on her face. After leaving Coast City she had come home to a list of fifteen people that the computer system had rendered. She had taken all fifteen names and ran them through the system to get photos and statistics from government agencies. While that was running she had the system cross referencing the photos and information that came up on the guys with the information she’d fug up on Desmond and Queen Industries.

The system was currently running through the last five people as she finished up patrols with the guys. She turned and leaned her back against the desk as she studied his face not quick able to read the expression there. “Sure thing Hero…what’s on your mind?” She asked softly.

“Sorry I scared you,” Oliver said. He moved into the room to stand beside her chair, bending down to press a kiss to her lips. “I did what you asked me to,” he said. Oliver brushed his hand over her cheek as he spoke. “I thought about what you said about the people I’ve helped and the people who matter the most. You. Hal. Tess. The rest of the team.” He swallowed hard as he held her gaze. “I know I let all of you down these past few weeks and I’m sorry.” He paused for a moment, fighting against the tightness in his chest.

“I thought I could put Green Arrow behind me and everything would be okay. I thought it was the right decision because I didn’t trust myself and my instincts after what I did. I was wrong,” he admitted quietly.

“Oh?” She said softly as she reached out for his hand and squeezed it lightly. She had been hoping that he’d come to that realization on his own so she didn’t have to slap him in the face with it. Her chest tightened slightly as her heartbeat sped up. There was something about the look in his eyes that made her heart warm. “And what about now?’ She asked lightly as she met his eyes.

Oliver brought her hand to his lips and kissed her skin softly. “Now I don’t want to live like this anymore, Chloe. I don’t want _you_ to have to live like this anymore. I hate that you’re worried about me all the time and that I’ve made you question if you’re enough to make me happy. You’ve made me happy from the moment we met. Well…maybe not the first moment when you insulted my charm and told me you didn’t like my smile,” he teased as he squeezed her hand. “But I’ve been failing you lately and I know that’s my own fault because I’ve been trying to be someone I’m not.” He kissed her hand again and gave her a small smile.

“Green Arrow is part of who I am whether I want to pretend otherwise or not. You were right when you said that I was trying to fit myself into a mold of what a hero is supposed to be. As much as I like to pretend otherwise when I’m out there fighting the good fight, I am just a man and I can admit that I made mistakes. It was a mistake to let Desmond die. But it was also a mistake for me to walk away. It was selfish and I’m sorry,” Oliver said.

Pride swelled in her chest at the fact that he’d come to this conclusion on his own without any poking or prodding from her. Chloe glanced up at him a bright smile on her face. “You haven’t been failing me Oliver,” She said softly before meeting his eyes. “You have absolutely no idea how much I love you and how proud I am of you right now,” She said quietly. “You were having a rough time and no one can fault you for that after everything that’s happened.” She told him softly.

“All that matters is the here and now though,” She said before cocking her head to the side. “Does this mean Green Arrow is back?” She asked hesitantly while trying to keep the excitement off her face.

Oliver had to laugh at her barely contained excitement. He’d known all along that this was what she wanted and somewhere inside of him he’d known that it was what he wanted too. But he’d tried so hard to bury that part and that had proven impossible. “Green Arrow never left,” he said. “He just got lost for awhile. But he’s a lucky guy because he’s got an amazing girlfriend and great friends who never gave up on him even when he gave up on himself.” He leaned down and brushed his lips over Chloe’s again.

“Now I’m going to stop being that weird guy who talks about himself in the third person,” Oliver joked when the kiss broke. His voice turned serious again as he brushed Chloe’s hair back from her face and let his hand rest on her cheek. “I love you too Chloe, and I’ll never be able to tell you just how much it means to me that you were there for me during all of this. I know I hit some low points and I did things that I am not proud of. But you kept me grounded even when the only thing I wanted was to disappear. Thank you,” he said sincerely.

Oliver knew that Chloe loved him. He’d never doubted that and he hoped he’d never made her doubt that he loved her in return. But he wanted her to know that he never would have found the strength to get even consider going back to being Green Arrow if it wasn’t for her. He would have let that part of himself die and sooner or later it would have completely destroyed him. “You saved my life, Chloe,” he said.

Chloe’s face softened as tears pooled in her eyes. She pushed herself out of the chair so she was standing in front of him and cupped his cheeks. “I know he never left,” She whispered, “he was inside of you all along Ollie… _You_ just needed to believe that.” She told him softly. “I love you too, and good or bad I’m always going to be here. Even when you’d rather I wasn’t,” She said with a watery smile. “You mean everything to me,” Her thumb brushed beneath his eye as emotion welled in her chest. She honestly didn’t think she’d done that much. “You saved yourself Ollie, I was hoping I wouldn’t have to push…that I wouldn’t have to put plan ‘B’ into motion and I’m so beyond glad I didn’t.” She said softly.

“You were able to find the hero in yourself…or at least something worthwhile enough for you to realize what we all knew all along. “And if you ever doubt yourself again…I’ll be here to pull your head out of your ass,” She joked before leaning in and pressing a light kiss to his lips. When she pulled back both of her hands were on his face her nose rubbing against his lightly. “God I love you…Do you have any idea how amazing I think you are?” She whispered.

“You’re the amazing one, Sidekick,” Oliver said. He slipped his arms around her waist and hugged her closer to him. “Somehow I’m not surprised that you have a plan B in place,” he joked. Oliver knew Chloe always thought of everything and he couldn’t help but fall even more in love with her as he realized just how determined she’d been to save him. “You helped me more than anyone although Hal and Tess both did their parts too,” he said.

Oliver dipped his head to kiss her again. Even though things had gotten back to normal when it came to their physical relationship, he still wanted to kiss her and hold her and tell her how much he loved her. “There was never a point when I didn’t want you around, Chloe and there never will be,” he told her without a doubt in his mind that his words were true.

“There were a few times where I left or avoided you because I didn’t feel I deserved to be anywhere near you but I  _never_  wanted to be away from you,” he stressed. “I love you more than I ever thought it was possible to love anyone.” His arms tightened around her waist as he held her gaze, wanting her to see that he meant every word.

Chloe’s smiled widened and her chest felt like it was going to burst with happiness. She felt horrible for her questioning his feelings for her. She knew how much Oliver loved her, she had just been so unsure of herself that it messed with her head when he was pushing her away. “I think I knew that all along, but hearing you say it means even more,” She said quietly before pressing her lips against his, coaxing his mouth open and deepening the kiss.

He returned the kiss, groaning softly at the feel of her tongue tangling with his. Oliver let his hands slide down to her ass as he pressed her body intimately against him. The kiss broke when air became a necessity and his mouth moved to her neck, leaving a trail of open-mouthed kisses as he tasted her skin. “I want you, Chloe.” Oliver wanted nothing more than to spend the night worshipping her but he knew there was something he needed to do first. He forced himself to move back and raised his head from her neck to meet her eyes.

“I need to help the city and try to fix this mess,” Oliver said. He swallowed hard and tried to ignore the way his body was already reacting to be close to her. They would have time for that later. “You’re going to have to fill me in on the things you’ve been keeping from me.” There was no malice in his voice; he wasn’t angry at her. Chloe had done what he’d asked but now he needed to know everything if he was going to put the uniform on and go out there and help.

Chloe nodded and tried to calm her heartbeat down. She knew he was right. She placed another quick kiss on his lips before moving out of his arms and back towards the computers. She pressed a couple of keys before motioning for him to come over. She pointed to the computer to her left. “See that icon on the desktop?” She asked and before waiting for an answer she spoke again. “I knew you’d eventually come to your senses so I made it to keep a log and summaries on everything that’s going on including how we’ve been splitting up patrols and several bullet point lists on what’s been going on where and when. Everything you need to get caught up is in there,” She said with a grin as she glanced back towards her screen to check on her search.

“Thank you,” Oliver said. He pressed a kiss to the side of her head before moving toward the computer she’d indicated. He clicked on the file and started scanning the contents. He’d been keeping up with the news so he knew about most of the incidents but there were a few that the team had handled without police involvement. His chest tightened when he saw just how much crime had increased while he’d been gone. Oliver still didn’t think he qualified as a hero in any sense of the word but maybe Green Arrow had mattered to the city more than he’d ever realized.

“It seems like the crime itself is spread all over the place but I don’t think the criminals being murdered by our Green Arrow impersonator are as random as they seem,” Oliver said. He motioned for Chloe to look at the screen as he pulled up the map with the different murder victims pinpointed on it. He could see the pattern and he tried to ignore the stab of guilt when he realized he should have been looking at this sooner because he was the only one who would know why these particular places mattered.

“This jewelry store is owned by a friend of my father’s,” Oliver told Chloe as he pointed to the store on the map. “He used to buy all of my mother’s jewelry there including their wedding rings.” He swallowed the lump in his throat as the familiar pain settled into his chest. Oliver forced himself not to lose focus.

“This one who was killed in the alley…that was the first place I ever saved someone as Green Arrow.” He explained to Chloe why the other locations were significant to him and finally pointed to the most recent victim. “You probably know this one but this is where the Queen Industries lab was rebuilt after Desmond blew up the first one.” He turned away from the screen to look at Chloe. “This person has really done his research to get this personal,” he said.

Chloe glared at the screen, irritation filling her. She was furious that it was taking so long to pinpoint the person causing Oliver and the city so much grief. Whoever it was really knew what he was doing. He had Chloe jumping through hoops, but this search would be the last hoop. There were three names left on the list and Chloe was determined to find whoever was doing this tonight.

“I didn’t realize,” She said softly. “I mean I knew the one about the lab, but since I didn’t know the other’s it didn’t jump out as odd to me. Give me a minute and I’ll,” Before she could finish her sentence the computer beeped. Chloe turned towards the computer a frown marring her face as she took a step closer at the results that were blinking on the screen. She ran her hand over the keys as she brought up the name flashing and a picture of the person. She frowned not sure why the system brought this person up when she thought he was one of the first eliminated from the final list.

She brought up the photo from the file on Desmond and compared it to the one of Richard Clark. Chloe’s breath hitched in her throat, her eyes widening as she stared at the two pictures side by side. “Oh my god Oliver,” She said her voice low eyes never leaving the screen. “I found our guy…His name is Richard Clark, but I don’t think that’s who he is…Look at this.”

The tone of her voice had Oliver turning around immediately. His eyes widened and he stared at the screen in disbelief. “Are you sure?” he asked. Oliver barely recognized the sound of his own voice. His heartbeat pounded between his ears as he looked at the photo of the man claiming to be Richard Clark. “That’s him, Chloe. All this time…” His voice trailed off as Oliver’s mind tried to process the impossible.

Desmond had survived. He’d found a way to get himself out of the water and he’d just been biding his time all these years while Oliver lived with his death on his conscience. It didn’t seem real but as Oliver continued to stare at the picture, everything started to make a lot more sense in his head. This was why they’d never been able to find anyone close to Desmond.

“That’s how he figured out my identity,” he said quietly. Desmond must have put two and two together when he’d arranged to meet with Oliver Queen and Green Arrow had shown up in his place. Desmond was crazy but he was smart too; much smarter than Oliver had ever given him credit for considering what he’d just pulled off.

“Do you know what this means?” She asked as she turned to face her boyfriend, her hand falling to his arm. “All this time Ollie…You’ve blamed yourself for something that never even happened _. I_ have half a mind to kill him for all the grief he’s caused,” She said, her tone hard as she turned back towards the picture and glared briefly. She paused, “I can trace this back and get a whole file on the person he’s pretending to be. And with any luck they’ll be an address or phone number of some sort,” She told him as she started typing quickly.

“What happens then?” She asked quietly, “How are we handling this one Oliver?” She stopped typing and glanced at him uncertainty in her eyes. This changed things. Dealing with Desmond was an entirely different ballgame then dealing with someone who was trying to get revenge for his death. Chloe had never met the man, but from everything she’d heard and read he was a psychopath and the situation needed to be handled delicately.

“I don’t know,” Oliver admitted. He rubbed his hand over his face and tried to grasp what was right in front of his face. He couldn’t focus on all the guilt that he’d been living with; he would deal with that later. “You can run the traces but he’s too smart to stay in one place for long. He probably used this identity to purchase the chemicals and then moved onto a new one. He hasn’t altered his appearance much but most people who knew him are dead.”

Oliver knew Chloe was right and they were going to have to be very careful moving forward. Desmond had been ten steps ahead of them the entire time and Oliver knew that was on him. He should have been paying more attention. “We need to warn Tess and Hal.” His mind was racing as he tried to figure out what kind of game Desmond was playing. He’d wanted Oliver’s attention and then he’d wanted Green Arrow’s attention. Oliver needed to know why.

“I gave him a way out that night. I assumed he was dead and because of that he got away with those murders and with Tess’s kidnapping and attempted murder.” Oliver leaned back in his seat, thinking out loud as he tried to find the motive. “He’s been dormant for almost three years now living whatever life he’s been living and he’s done it off the police radar and off the team’s radar. Why now, Chloe? What changed that made him feel the need to do all of this?” Oliver couldn’t come up with any logic that made sense.

Chloe was just as confused as Oliver. She shook her head and shrugged helplessly. “I honestly don’t know. Has anything happened recently that might have brought him out? Any big changes with the company or with you? I mean I don’t know why after all this time he’d come out of hiding…It doesn’t make sense,” She said mostly to herself. She continued typing trying to see if she could find any more information that might help. “I’ll keep looking, and see what I can find, you should let Tess and Hal know what’s going on,” She told him softly. They were all going to need to work together if they were going to bring Desmond down once and for all.

“We merged with Luthor Corp. but I don’t see how that would set him off,” Oliver said. Other than that, he couldn’t think of any major changes at the company and aside from his relationship with Chloe, he hadn’t made any changes in his personal life. Maybe Desmond was just as crazy as ever and it would be a waste of time to try and find the motive. He glanced at the screen where Chloe had the satellite feed monitoring police activity and he could see it was lit up all over the city.

“I need to get out there,” Oliver said. He’d wasted enough time feeling sorry for himself and now it was time to step up and do something about it. He grabbed Chloe, spun her around and placed a long, lingering kiss against her lips. “I love you. Call me if anything comes up,” he said. Oliver let her go and moved toward the doorway, fresh determination coursing through his veins. He didn’t know why Desmond was doing all of this but he was going to find out and this time, he would make sure that Desmond spent the rest of his sorry life in a jail cell.


	13. Chapter 13

It took Oliver less than ten minutes to change out of his suit and into his gear. There was a part of him that had expected it to feel wrong, even now that he knew Desmond was alive and he wasn’t responsible for his death, he’d still expected that part of him that questioned whether or not he had any right to be a hero to whisper in his ear as he slipped into the familiar leather.

But there was only one voice in his head and it was telling him that he was doing exactly what he was supposed to as he holstered his crossbow and pulled up his hood. He knew he was making the right decision and his only mistake had been to quit in the first place. It was a mistake Oliver vowed never to make again as he slipped on his dark glasses and made his way out the back door to the private elevator.

The city was a mess and Oliver didn’t have to go far to find problems. He stopped a bank robbery, two muggings and a carjacking within the first hour of his patrol. Chloe’s steady voice was in his ear and she directed him to other signs of trouble in the area. He broke up a drug deal near the docks and he stopped several gang members from vandalizing a community center.

He ran into Victor near the edge of the city and his friend greeted him with a nod and a brief smile before the two of them worked together to stop more gang members from assaulting two women in an alley. Victor offered to stay with the women until the ambulance arrived and Oliver headed to the next distress call Chloe sent him.

He’d been patrolling for nearly four hours by the time he finally tracked down Hal on the opposite end of the city near the beach. Oliver knew he should be exhausted but his adrenaline was pumping and thanks to his need to burn off access energy, he’d done nothing but workout in his spare time the past few weeks so he was probably in better shape now than he’d been before he’d stopped patrolling each night.

He saw Hal taking on two guys and he seemed to have it under control so Oliver stayed back and pulled out his phone to alert the police that they would have a pickup for them. Hal already had one guy subdued and Oliver saw the other one reaching for a knife. He didn’t hesitate to fire his crossbow and the guy howled in pain as the arrow sliced through his hand, forcing him to drop the knife.

Hal’s head whipped around in time to see the other man fall to his knees. His brow creased in confusion trying to figure out what had happened when he glanced up and saw Oliver several feet away suited up. His eyes widened slightly as he let go of the kid he had just zip tied and tossed him to the ground. Hal had been out patrolling Star City for the last three hours. He’d flown over after he finished his patrol in Coast City.

He zip tied the other kid on the ground before pressing the com in his ear and alerting Chloe to call the authorities before stepping over them and making his way over to Oliver. He wasn’t sure what was going on, but he was pretty sure he hadn’t hit his head, so there was no way he was delusional. Before he’d gone out on patrol Tess she’d mentioned something about going out to lunch with Oliver and how they’d actually had an honest talk.

She had seemed almost enthusiastic about the time they spent together and it seemed she had good reason to. Apparently whatever she’d said it had worked. He swallowed hard and paused a few feet away from him near the dock. A smile broke out on his face. “Thanks for the assist Arrow…good to see you finally pulled your head out of your ass,” He said almost cheerfully.

Oliver grinned at Hal’s tone. He’d almost forgotten what it was like to see his best friend looking at him without confusion and disappointment in his eyes. “Well we both know it was long overdue.” He motioned for Hal to follow him as he reached up and pressed the small button in his ear. “Sidekick, I’m going to fill Lantern in on your discovery. Let us know if anything comes up,” he said as he led Hal away from the beach. They walked a few blocks until Oliver was sure there was no one around except for them. He pulled off his glasses but he kept his hood up as he turned to face Hal.

“I know you’re probably tired of hearing this from me, but I’m sorry, man. I’m sorry I left you guys alone out here and I’m sorry I let the city get to this point. It won’t happen again,” Oliver said firmly. He finally understood what Chloe and his friends had been trying to tell him for weeks; what he’d subconsciously been trying to tell himself. He couldn’t separate himself from Green Arrow without losing who he was and Oliver knew that part of himself was worth fighting for.

Hal slapped Oliver on the back and shrugged. “No apologies necessarily man,” And for the first time in a long time Hal actually meant it. He’d spent so long being angry and hurt that Oliver had just given up and left them all so he could wallow in guilt, that it left him blind him to the pain his friend was in. Chloe had been right earlier. He shouldn’t have been so hard on Oliver.

“It’s just good to have you back…the team missed its leader,” He said before giving him a sheepish shrug, “And I missed my best friend.” he told him quietly before scratching the back of his neck. “And listen…I know I wasn’t exactly nice these past few weeks to you or Chloe. I’m sorry about that. I let my anger get the better of me and it wasn’t right. You needed a friend and I wasn’t there. So I’m sorry too.” He said with a small smile before remembering what Oliver has said through the com to Chloe.

His brows furrowed as he watched his friend. “What information did Chloe find that you need to tell me?” He asked a hint of concern on his face as he watched his friend’s expression harden.

“Don’t worry about it,” Oliver said. He understood why Hal had acted the way he had. He’d been hurt and angry and he’d lashed out. Oliver didn’t blame him for any of that. “We’ve been friends too long to worry about angry words said in the heat of the moment.” Oliver appreciated Hal making an effort to apologize, but as far as he was concerned it really was not necessary. He just wanted to move forward and telling him about Desmond needed to take priority.

“Chloe ran a search on the people who bought the specific chemicals that were used in the fake arrows. She narrowed it down and a guy by the name of Richard Clark came back as the culprit. She pulled up the guy’s driver’s license picture and it’s Desmond. He’s alive, Hal. He’s been alive this entire time and now he’s back,” Oliver said. He still couldn’t believe that Desmond was behind everything that had happened. It made sense that he would hate Oliver enough to want to torture him but Oliver still couldn’t figure out why he was doing this now.

Hal stared at Oliver dumbfounded for a good minute before he finally shook himself out of his stupor. He opened and closed his mouth several time as fear, anger and uncertainty washed over him. That wasn't possible. Desmond drowned, he was dead and Hal liked him that way. Because at least dead he couldn't hurt Tess anymore. He swallowed heavily as his mind flashed back to that night, Tess bound and gagged barely breathing. He sucked in a sharp breath and let it out slowly.  
  
"He can't be alive," Hal said his voice shaky, "He's dead...Please tell me this is some kind of horribly bad timed joke," he said as tension filled his body. He couldn't let what happened to Tess before happen again, he wouldn't be able to survive it this time.

“He’s alive and he’s been screwing with my head all this time,” Oliver said. He gave Hal a few minutes to let the information sink in. Oliver knew it wasn’t an easy thing to grasp; he was still trying to come to grips with it and Chloe had showed him the picture of Desmond nearly four hours earlier. “I have no idea why he’s back or where he’s been all this time or what the hell his endgame is but he’s alive and we have to stop him. Chloe’s trying to run a trace on the alias he used but I’m guessing he’s already moved on to a different one.”

Hal ran a hand threw his hair and started pacing in front of his friend. "How the hell did he survive?" He asked a hint of frustration in his voice as he continued moving needing to do something with his body to get rid of the excess energy flowing through him. "I'm sorry I just," he paused, "Chloe will find him, she's good at that stuff," he said before stopping in front of Oliver his eyes wide as his face paled. "What am I going to tell Tess?" He asked his voice quiet. This was not a conversation he was looking forward to having.

“Hal, you need to calm down,” Oliver said quietly. He knew Hal was scared because of what Desmond had done to Tess before but he needed to go into this with a clear head. They all did. “You’re going to tell Tess that we know who the bad guy is and we’re going to track him down. Believe me, I get that this is too much to take. I still haven’t wrapped my head around it. But now that we know it’s him, we will find him,” he said confidently. Oliver knew it was the truth because he would not stop until Desmond was behind bars where he belonged. He was not going to let that man hurt anyone else. Enough people had already died because of him and Oliver was ready to put an end to this nightmare once and for all.

“It’s getting late. I’ll do one more sweep of the city and you should get home to Tess. She’ll want to know what’s going on and it’ll be better coming from you. I’ll call you if Chloe comes up with anything tonight and if not, we’ll talk strategy soon,” Oliver said. He knew Hal’s head wouldn’t be in the game after this and there was no point in him risking his life or anyone else’s to finish his patrol.

Hal took a deep breath and nodded knowing his friend was right. He needed to stay calm. Freaking out wouldn't help anything plus he knew once he told Tess she was going to be scared even if she wouldn't admit it. "I'm sorry, you're right." He told his friend quietly before taking a deep breath. He met Oliver's eyes. "We'll get him this time Oliver, we'll all work together." He said before patting him on the arm.  
  
"I'm going to head home and talk to Tess...Let me know if you need me," he said before giving his friend half a smile. "Be careful out there Arrow," he said with a smirk.

“You too, Lantern,” Oliver replied. He waved Hal off and slipped on his glasses as he jogged around the corner, heading back toward the spot where he’d left his bike. He figured he would spend the next hour making sure everything was quiet and then head home to Chloe. It was the least he could do after he had wasted so much time feeling sorry for himself. But Oliver wasn’t going to dwell on that. There was too much work to do.

 

______

 

Tess sighed as she finished her glass of wine and let her body sink deeper into the bubbles. The water was starting to cool off and she knew she needed to get out of the tub soon but she wanted to take another moment to enjoy just how comfortable she was. It had been a long day at work and she knew Hal would be out most of the night patrolling so she’d just wanted to take some time to herself and relax. She closed her eyes, let out another long sigh and then sat up, pulled the stopper out of the drain and reached for her towel. She dried off her body and pulled on her silk robe, knotted the sash around her waist and grabbed her empty glass.

The apartment was quiet as she padded to the kitchen and Tess glanced at the clock. It was nearly midnight. Hal had been patrolling until one or two the past few nights and she didn’t like to go to bed until he was home so she decided against a second glass of wine and grabbed a bottle of water instead. Tess took that and her laptop and sat down on the couch to check her email. She scrolled through the work stuff and was in the middle of returning a long email to one of the Luthor Corp. vice presidents when she heard the sound of the balcony doors being pushed open.

“Hal?” Tess called uncertainly as she set her computer down on the table and stood up. “Is everything okay?” Her heart was suddenly pounding in her chest as she imagined all the possible injuries that might have caused him to come home this early.

Hal's chest tightened when he heard the worry in her voice. He'd flown so fast to get home that the trip was practically cut in half. He swallowed hard as he closed the doors and took a few steps towards his fiance, giving her a small smile that didn't reach his eyes. "Everything is okay with me," he said lightly. "I'm fine. I'm home early because Arrow relieved me," he said with a grin giving Tess a minute to digest that. He wanted her to be able to enjoy that for a minute before he told her what was going on.  
  
He closed the distance between them, cupped her cheeks and placed a light kiss against her lips. He pulled back a minute later and rubbed her arms lightly as he swallowed hard and tried to figure out how to tell her about Desmond. He glanced up and met her eyes. "I need to talk to you about something and I think we should sit down," he said trying to keep his voice light.

“Oliver’s back?” Tess asked. She was fairly certain that was a good thing; it was what they’d all wanted, including Oliver. The brief smile Hal had flashed her told Tess that he was happy about it but she could see that something else was bothering him. “Hal, what is it?” she asked as she let him lead her back to the couch.

Tess tried to figure out what was wrong as her chest tightened with familiar fear. Hal had said he wasn’t hurt and she assumed Oliver was fine or Hal wouldn’t have left him to patrol on his own. She chewed on the corner of her lip as she waited anxiously for him to tell her what was going on.

Hal could see the fear in her eyes and he felt terrible for making her worry, but then again maybe it was good if she worried. He sat down next to her and took her hands in his as he held her gaze. He took a deep breath and spoke quietly. “You know that Chloe has been trying to figure out who the person behind this is,” He said slowly, “And big shock, she did.” He gave her half a smile. “That girl knows how to track a man down…it’s slightly frightening,” He said attempting for humor as anxiety filled his stomach.

“Long story short the name Richard Clark popped up in the search, but when Chloe brought up a photo of the guy…it matched Desmond’s.” He said and then paused for a minute as he tried to figure out what she was thinking. “Desmond is alive Tess,” He whispered as he squeezed her hands a little tighter in a comforting gesture, not sure what the expression on her face meant.

Shock and disbelief went through Tess’s mind as Hal told her that Desmond was alive. “But he drowned.” Even as she said the words, Tess realized that they’d never confirmed that. Oliver had assumed that Desmond had drowned but his body had never been recovered. They’d just assumed that the storm had carried him out to sea or perhaps he’d been dragged under with the remains of his boat but they’d never known that for sure. She’d been in the hospital and then Oliver had fallen apart and their focus had shifted to bringing him back.

“Oliver has been living with the guilt over his death for all these years and he’s just been out there waiting?” Tess asked. Her voice was laced with disbelief as she tried to make sense out of this. She could understand why Desmond had faked his death. He’d murdered five people and had tried to kill her too. But why would he come back? Did he want to finish the job? Tess swallowed hard as a wave of fear washed over her. She remembered the moment she’d woken up on the boat and Desmond had gleefully told her about the slow acting poison in her system. She’d been so scared that she’d never see Hal again. Tess squeezed his hand hard as she tried not to panic. “What does he want?”’’

Hal could practically see her reliving those last few moments with Desmond and he wished there was something he could do to make it better for her. He had been terrified when they found out Desmond had her. He thought he’d never see her again and nothing in his entire life had ever hurt so much. He lifted her hands and pressed a kiss to each palm, his eyes never leaving hers. “We don’t know yet. Chloe is working on it,” He said before cupping her cheek.

“Nothing is going to happen to you, do you hear me?” He placed a finger over her lips when it looked like she was going to protest. “Tess, I promise you I will not let him get to you this time even if I have to stay glued to your side twenty-four seven. We’re going to find him, stop him and send his psychopathic ass to jail once and for all.” He said with way more confidence then he had in his body. But regardless of what happened, Desmond would not lay another hand on Tess ever again, Hal wouldn’t stand for it.

Tess nodded. Logically, she knew that Hal was right. He wouldn’t let Desmond get anywhere near her and Tess had a feeling she wasn’t on the top of his list this time around anyway. “I know I’m safe with you,” she said. Tess moved closer to Hal on the couch, shifting so she was leaning back against him as she rested her head on his shoulder. She knew he was probably scared too and trying to be strong for her.

“How’s Oliver doing with all of this?” she asked. Tess couldn’t imagine what must be going through his head at the moment. He’d spent years thinking that he was responsible for Desmond’s death and now it turned out that not only was the man alive, but he was slowly tormenting Oliver and playing on his guilt as he tried to sabotage everything he had worked for. But Tess still thought it didn’t make sense. He could have gone after Oliver at any time. Why would he wait until now? She turned her head to look up at Hal, wanting to know if he had any insights into what Oliver was thinking.

Hal rested back against the couch and wrapped his arms around her letting his hand rest on her hip as he tried to relax his body. He pressed a kiss to the side of her head and shrugged. “Honestly, I don’t really know. He saved me tonight.” He told her before explaining about the two kids by the beach and the knife. “It was so good seeing him out there and when we talked he seemed just as surprised as you.” He said while glancing down at her.

“I’m not sure what’s going through his head, but he doesn’t seem to be breaking down, which is always good.” He said lightly. “I think we just need to trust him…And as much as I hate to say it, he has Chloe. She’ll keep him in the right state of mind and hopefully we’ll take care of this whole mess soon.” He said softly.

“I’m glad you’re okay,” Tess said as she snuggled closer to him. She didn’t particularly like hearing about close calls but she was glad Oliver had been there. She was also glad that Hal was finally starting to see that Chloe was not their enemy. He’d told her about Chloe saving the day with his mother and Tess was extremely grateful. She knew Mrs. Jordan meant well but she didn’t really like being cast in the role of the bad guy.

“It’s been a long day,” Tess said as she ran her hand over his chest. “What do you say we go to bed?” she suggested. She knew Hal was exhausted with all the extra hours he was putting in and she doubted things were going to slow down now that they knew Desmond was the one who was doing all of these terrible things. They were going to have to put a lot of time and energy into tracking him down and she wanted Hal to take a break while he could. Selfishly, she wanted to feel safe in his arms.

He glanced down at her a soft smile playing on his lips. “Yeah, we can do that,” He said softly. “You might have to carry me though, I’m exhausted,” He joked as he lifted her off him carefully before standing and holding out his hand to her. “Any chance you would approve of us playing hooky tomorrow and staying in bed all day?” He asked, his expression softening as he watched her, a new determination settling in him. Desmond would not hurt her this time around or ever again. He needed to keep repeating it to himself; strangely enough it made him feel slightly better.

“That sounds like a great idea,” Tess said. She took his hand and stood on her toes to press a kiss to his lips before they made their way to the bedroom. She’d never been one to hide from her fears and she wasn’t going to start now but that didn’t mean she couldn’t take the day off and spend some quality time with the man she was going to marry. It had been too long since they’d had any down time and the idea of spending the day curled up with Hal was too good to resist. They would deal with the rest of the world at a later date.

 

______

 

The computer beeped again as _‘No Match Found’_ blinked on the screen in red for the hundredth time. Chloe took a deep breath and let it out slowly. She needed to stay calm. Flipping out and throwing things at the computers wouldn’t help; it would just make things take longer. It had been close to six hours since Oliver suited up and went on patrol. A small smile pulled at her lips as she thought back to the spark that had filled his eyes right before he linked his com up to Watchtower and made his way out onto the streets.

It was a look she hadn’t seen in his eyes in quite some time and it was nice to see it there again. Chloe shook herself out of her thoughts and once again focused on the computers. The team had called it a night about an hour ago and Oliver had put his com on radio silent ten minutes ago and was currently heading back to the penthouse. She knew there wasn’t much more she could do tonight until one of her searches gave her some results.

It was going to take until at least morning for her to get a hit, though she was hoping something would show up sooner, but until then she should probably leave the confinement of the office even if it was just for a few minutes. Chloe walked towards the door, pushed it open and made her way down the hallway towards the bedroom. She made her way around the room grabbing one of her nightgowns and heading into the bathroom. Chloe changed and had just finished washing her face when she heard a noise out in the hallway. She wiped her face and called out. “Oliver?” She asked a hint of uncertainty in her tone as she moved out of the bedroom and towards the door.

“I’ll be right there, Chloe,” Oliver called. After he’d gotten back from patrol and stripped off his gear, Oliver had made his way into the office assuming that would be where he’d find Chloe. But he was glad to see she had turned everything to night mode. He glanced at the security monitor and saw there were still a few distress calls scattered across the city, but the grid looked a lot better than it had earlier. Oliver figured the police would be able to handle the rest. 

He glanced at the other screen and saw the searches Chloe had been running for Desmond were coming up empty. Oliver wasn’t really surprised by that but this was only the beginning. Now that they knew he was the one who had been haunting him all this time, they would find a way to track him down. Oliver turned off the light in the office and walked down the hall to the bedroom. He smiled when he spotted Chloe.

“Hey Sidekick,” he said lightly. Despite the fact that he’d spent over six hours fighting with criminals and there was an insane man out there trying to make his life a living hell, Oliver felt like himself for the first time in months. There was still a lot resting on his shoulders but he finally felt like he would be able to find the light at the end of the tunnel and come out the other side.

Chloe glanced over her shoulder and returned his smile as she took her earrings out of her ears and placed them on the dresser. “Hey there Hero, productive night?” She asked while meeting his eyes through the mirror. He looked a lot better than he had in a long time. Despite the fact that Desmond was out there, Oliver actually looked at peace or as at piece as one could be with a psychopath on the loose. She shook herself out of her thoughts and spoke again. “So how’d Hal take the news?” She asked softly.

“You could say that,” Oliver said. He smiled at her in the mirror before leaning down and pressing a kiss against her shoulder. “It was a long night and I think it was productive.” He kissed her shoulder again and met her gaze in the mirror. “Hal was happy that I was back and he was pretty upset about Desmond. He’s worried about Tess. I sent him back to Coast City early because I knew he needed to make sure she was okay. I did another sweep and everything is quiet for now,” he said as he slipped his arms around her waist and pulled her back against him. “How was your night?”

She arched an eyebrow at him through the mirror as she dropped her hand and placed it over one of his. “Well that’s good. I’m sure Tess will be glad to have him home early.” She said before letting out a short sigh. “My night was frustrating. I vote when we find Desmond, we let me hit him just once so I can feel a little bit better about the soul sucking time I spent in front of the computer trying to find him,” She said with a slight pout as she leaned back into him.

“I’d prefer if you stayed far away from him but I understand the sentiment,” Oliver said. He knew how hard Chloe had been working on this case and how difficult he had made things on her when he’d fallen apart. He hated that he hadn’t been there for her all this time and he couldn’t help wondering if they would have figured it out sooner if he’d been paying closer attention instead of trying to drown himself in alcohol and depression. But Oliver knew there was no point in wasting more time playing the “what if” game. All they could do now was move forward.

“It’s been a long night,” Oliver said. He continued to watch her in the mirror as he splayed his hand over her stomach, caressing her lightly through the thin material of her nightgown. “Are you tired?” he asked as he dipped his head and pressed several kisses along the curve of her neck.

The feel of his fingers against her abdomen made her body tingle with anticipation as her heartbeat speed up. Chloe sucked in a sharp breath and tilted her head to the side to give him better access to her neck while holding his gaze in the mirror. She gave him a playful look while lifting her hand back and gripping his neck lightly. “If I said I was?” She asked her voice low.

“Well if that’s the case, I would tell you that you should probably get some sleep,” Oliver said. He kissed as much of her neck as he could reach from his angle and then trailed his lips up to her ear. “But something tells me that you would be lying if you said you were tired, Sidekick,” he whispered against her ear as his hand drifted up to cup her breast.

His eyes never left hers in the mirror as he stroked his thumb back and forth over her nipple, pleased when it pebbled instantly under his caress. “I get the feeling you’re wide awake.” He sucked her earlobe into his mouth as he let his other hand slip down to her hip and squeezed her gently.

Chloe moaned her head dropping back against his shoulder as arousal flared inside of her. One of the many things she loved about Oliver was how well he knew her body. It never took him long to have her wet and willing no matter the where or when, her body always wanted him. He was like a drug. When they first got together it had scared her how intense she reacted to him, but now…she relished in it.

She let out another moan and arched her body into his hand to increase the pressure against her breast as she watched him through the mirror a spark of mischief in her eyes. “Well I am now,” She told him voice breathy while letting her other hand slide up his leg, her fingers dancing across the skin there lightly.

He grinned as his skin instantly warmed beneath her touch. “I guess I’ll have to find some way to occupy your time and make it worth your while to stay awake then,” Oliver said. He pressed his body tighter against hers; wanting her to feel the effect she was already having on him.

Oliver loved touching her and he could never seem to get enough of the way she responded to him. He kneaded her breast as he let his other hand slide down her leg. He caught the hem of her nightgown between his fingers and slowly slid his hand underneath it to brush over the smooth skin of her thigh. 

“Tell me what you want,” Oliver whispered huskily against her ear. His fingers drifted higher up her thigh as he dipped his head again and licked the sensitive spot beneath her ear before he sucked on her neck hard enough to leave a mark.

Chloe was having trouble focusing enough to form words. She pressed her body back against the bulge in his boxers and she moaned as arousal flowed through her body. There were a dozen things she wanted on the tip of her tongue, but she couldn’t concentrate enough to verbalize any of them. Chloe held his gaze through the mirror as she ran her tongue over her lower lip, her chest rising and falling quicker than before.

God she loved him. Chloe shifted her hand from his leg and ran it down his arm before resting her hand over his and guiding it up her thigh to her panties. “Touch me,” She whispered a sharp breath leaving her throat as she pressed his hand against her dampened panties.

Oliver’s own breathing was speeding up and he groaned when she pressed his hand against her panties and he could feel how wet she already was. He lightly brushed his fingers over the fabric and he felt her hips jerking forward demanding more contact. “You’re so hot, Chloe,” he whispered as he rubbed himself against her ass. He loved getting her worked up and then watching her come apart for him. He stared at her reflection in the mirror, watched her chest rising and falling against his hand as her skin turned flushed with her arousal. 

He traced his finger across her panties again, applying the slightest bit of pressure this time. Her back was arched against his chest and he pinched her nipple between his fingers as he pushed her panties aside and let his fingers tease her bare skin. “Do you have any idea how much I want you?” Oliver asked as he slid one finger into her body. “I love touching you.” He lowered his lips to her neck again as he added a second finger and slowly started thrusting in and out of her body.

“Hopefully it’s as much as I do,” She managed to get out between soft moans. She tightened her arm around the back of his neck for leverage as she moved her hips in time with his fingers. She could feel a slow burning need clawing its way through her body as pressure pooled in her lower belly. Everywhere he touched her, his hands left heat in their wake. He could drive her crazy with a few simple caresses.

Chloe was pulled from her thoughts as he pinched her nipple again and she whimpered squeezing her inners muscles around his fingers as her heart slammed against her chest. “Ollie,” She gasped, “I want you so bad, please…more.” She bit her lower lip as she attempted to keep her eyes open wanting to touch him, but not exactly having the best angle to do so.

Oliver increased the speed of his fingers as he felt her inner walls starting to pulsate around him. He knew she was close and it wouldn’t take much to push her over the edge. He pressed his thumb against her clit, rubbing the tiny bundle of nerves as each thrust of her hips pushed her ass back against his cock. The soft moans falling from her lips were only turning him on more as her hand gripped his neck tighter. “Come for me, Chloe,” he said as he applied more pressure to her clit and he felt her slick walls clamp down around his fingers.

Chloe cried out his name as she came, inner walls clenching as her body practically slammed back against his. She arched her head back into his shoulder, her nails digging into the skin of his neck as she rode out her orgasm on his hand. Her teeth bit into her lower lip as wave after wave of pleasure flowed through her body. Her legs were shaky as her heart drummed in her chest.

Chloe’s eyes fluttered open slowly and she caught him watching her through the mirror, which immediately sent another rush of moisture between her legs. The way he looked at her…it made her feel like the most beautiful thing in the entire world. Like he was a dying man and she was his last meal. She swallowed heavily and shifted rubbing her ass lightly against him as she let out a long breath. “Have I mentioned I love you?” She asked her tone staggered slightly as she attempted to get her breathing under control.

“I love you too,” Oliver said. His heart was pounding against his chest as he watched her in the mirror. He loved seeing the pleasure on her face and listening to her call out his name as she came apart around his fingers. He loved Chloe more than anything in the world and he loved knowing that he could make her feel good. The pure bliss on her face only made him want her that much more. He pulled his fingers from her body and met her gaze in the mirror once again as he slowly brought his hand to his mouth and began to lick his fingers clean. 

“Have I mentioned just how good you taste?” he asked. Oliver let go of her breast and gripped her by the shoulders, spinning her body around quickly to face him. He gently pushed her back until her body hit the wall with a soft thud and then Oliver dropped his hands to her hips and lifted her off her feet, using his body to pin hers to the wall so he was pressed intimately against her. He watched her for a moment and then he lowered his mouth to hers; his tongue sweeping past her lips as he deepened the kiss.

Chloe groaned at his words, a fresh wave of arousal moving through her body as she gripped his face with both hands opening her mouth letting him deepen the kiss. She could taste herself in his mouth and that only made her hotter. She wrapped her legs tightly around him and did her best to rub against him. Chloe pulled away from him when breathing became an issue and she sucked in several deep breaths. “You’re wearing too many clothes,” She got out between breaths even though she was pretty sure he wasn’t wearing all that much.

She dropped one hand from his face and slid it down his chest, her nails scraping against his skin lightly as she slipped her hand between them and inside his boxers gripping his shaft in her palm and stroking him slowly. Chloe moved her mouth to his cheek before running her tongue against eh shell of his ear. “I need you inside of me,” Her warm breath hit his skin as she rubbed her nose against his jaw. “Fuck me, Ollie.” She whispered hotly near his ear.

Between her hand being wrapped around him and her words, Oliver had lost the ability to think about anything except how much he needed to be inside of her. “I think we’re both wearing too many clothes,” he said. His breathing was ragged and he let out a loud groan as her hand tightened around him.

He was way too turned on for additional foreplay and he knew if she kept touching him like that, this was going to be over much too quickly. He slipped his hands under the hem of her nightgown again and grabbed the sides of her lace panties. Oliver tugged hard and the material snapped in his hands. He pushed the scraps out of his way and then pulled Chloe’s hand away from him, replacing it with his own.

Oliver kissed her again, drawing it out as his lips moved frantically over hers. His cock twitched as he positioned himself at her entrance and torturously rubbed himself against her until he was soaked in her warm juices. The kiss broke and Oliver’s eyes bore into hers as he thrust her into her, stretching her body around his shaft. “God, Chloe. You feel so good.” Oliver pulled nearly all the way out of her body and then slammed into her again; speeding up the pace of his thrusts as he lowered his head and sucked her nipple into his mouth through the fabric of her nightgown.

Chloe cried out, her hand gripped his head tightly and holding it to her breast as she met him thrust for thrust. Oliver set a fast pace and she could already feel another orgasm building. “So do you,” She said as she jerked her head back against the wall. “So, so good…oh god Ollie, harder,” She said urging him on as she contracted her inner muscles around him and gripped his hip in her hand. Her entire body was on fire as he continued pounding inside of her.

He gave her what she wanted, slamming into her again and again as he forced her body against the wall. Oliver yanked the strap of her nightgown down, snapping it between his fingers as he pushed the material out of his way before running his tongue over her bare nipple. He sucked the hard bud into his mouth as he reached between them and pressed his thumb against her clit. Oliver could feel her muscles clenching around him as her hips slammed into his. Oliver thrust into her again as he continued massaging her clit with his thumb. “Come on, Chloe. Let go,” he urged her as his mouth moved over the soft skin of her breast.

Chloe closed her eyes as she bit into her lower lip hard enough to draw blood. She could feel her inner muscles fluttering and she gripped him tighter as she moved her body against his. “Ollie, Ollie, Ollie,” The words flew from her mouth as she tilted her head back and sobbed his name as her orgasm crashed over her everything going back behind her eyes as she came her inner walls milking his cock as her nails dug into his skin.

Chloe could feel pleasure ripping through her body as Oliver continued moving inside of her drawing out her orgasm. She held on to him as more and more noise fell from the back of her throat as he ran his over her nipple.

“You’re so beautiful, Chloe. I love you,” Oliver muttered his words against her skin as he felt the familiar tingle at the base of his spine. He thrust into her again and then he let himself go; her name falling from his lips as the rest of his words became incoherent. His body shuddered as he exploded inside of her; white lights flashing in front of his eyes as her muscles continued to spasm around him. Breathing heavy, Oliver dropped his head to her shoulder as he listened to her trying to catch her breath as they both basked in each other. 

Once his heart rate slowed down to a somewhat normal speed, Oliver lifted his head and placed small kisses over her cheeks and the tip of her nose before finally kissing her lips. The kiss broke and he brushed his nose lightly against hers as he watched her eyes flutter open to meet his. “You are incredible,” he told her.

Chloe gave him a warm smile as she cupped his cheek with one hand. “I’m pretty sure you’re the incredible one,” She said softly before brushing her lips against his. When she broke the kiss she nuzzled her nose against his neck before placing a light kiss there. “I love you,” She said as she rested her head against his shoulder and ran her hands over his back. It was a quiet for a minute as she pressed a kiss to his shoulder. “Any chance you plan on carrying me to bed Hero?” She asked lightly, a grin on her face.

“I think I can manage that,” Oliver said. He smiled at Chloe as he wrapped his arms around her and carried her across the room to their bed. He set her down gently before walking around to his side and sliding under the covers beside her. Oliver pulled Chloe closer to him and kissed her softly. “I love you,” he told her again as he brushed her hair back from her forehead. He still didn’t know how he had gotten so lucky to have her in his life, but Oliver was extremely grateful.

Chloe moved into his side draping half her body over his as she pressed a kiss to his jaw before resting her head on his chest. “I love you too,” She told him softly as she tried to figure out what she had done to be lucky enough to have someone like Oliver in her life. She let her eyes drift shut as she yawned. “Don’t forget to wake me up before you leave,” She mumbled against his chest knowing sometimes he liked to let her sleep in. She tightened her hold on him and let out a content sigh.

“I will,” Oliver promised. He pressed a kiss to the top of her head as his fingers stroked her hair. He closed his eyes, letting himself sink back into the pillow. It had been a long day and an even longer night but for the first time in a long time, Oliver let himself relax. He knew it wasn’t going to be easy to find Desmond and he was still going to have to deal with the ramifications of him actually being alive after all those years of thinking he was no better than a murderer. But Oliver wasn’t concerned about any of that. He had Chloe in his arms and nothing else mattered. His last thoughts were of her as he drifted to sleep.


	14. Chapter 14

“Thank you,” Tess said. She handed the delivery guy his money and a generous tip, closed the door and carried the bag of sandwiches and salads to the kitchen. She glanced at the time and noted that Chloe and Mrs. Jordan would be there soon so she unpacked the bag and left the food on the counter before she moved to the refrigerator to grab three bottles of water.

She felt like she should be anxious about spending the afternoon with Chloe and Hal’s mother to talk wedding plans, but she was actually looking forward to it. She needed something to take her mind off the fact that there was a psycho out there and that her fiancé was slowly beginning to smother her with his need to protect her.

It had been three days since the night Hal had come home and told her that Green Arrow was back but unfortunately, so was Desmond Alvarez. Tess had taken the next day off work and she’d enjoyed spending extra time with Hal. It had felt normal and fun and she’d thought it would put a temporary rest to his anxiety.

Unfortunately, it seemed to have had the opposite effect and he was more worried about her than ever. Tess had a feeling he wouldn’t be reacting this way if it wasn’t for all the danger she’d been in when they’d taken on Lex in Metropolis. She loved Hal more than life itself and Tess knew he felt the same way about her but he needed a break from constant worrying.

So Tess had invited his mother and Chloe over and told Oliver to make himself useful and distract Hal with some kind of manly wedding details so she didn’t have to start slipping sleeping pills into his drinks. Tess figured it would probably be good for them to spend time together anyway now that things were back to normal.

Or as normal as they were allowed to be in the crazy lives they lived. She heard a knock on the door and started to yell that it was open, but Tess decided that probably wasn’t the best idea considering the circumstances. She also realized she probably should have locked the door.

Tess grabbed her purse from the hall table and pulled out the gun she’d started carrying with her ever since that night in Metropolis when she’d been surprised in the parking lot. She kept it in her hand as she made her way to the door and looked through the small peephole. Relaxing when she saw Chloe standing in the hallway, Tess slipped the gun back into her purse and opened the door.

“Hey Chloe, thanks for coming,” she said as she stepped aside so Chloe could come into the apartment.

Chloe smiled and nodded as she walked over the threshold and made her way inside. “No problem. I’m glad you invited me,” She said lightly, “I was starting to go blind staring at all those computers. I needed to get out of the house,” She told the other woman while pulling her purse from her shoulder. It had been three days since they found out Desmond was alive and while Oliver had resumed his nightly patrols she had been scouring the system for any hint of where he was.

She was glad to have a day to focus on something other than the psycho who was trying to drive her boyfriend insane. “I meant to apologize for butting my nose in. I know you told me to wait on the whole wedding thing, but I just wanted to try and do something to help,” She said with a shrug. Chloe reached into her purse and pulled out a folder. “I have some more stuff if you’re interested,” She said with a grin.

“Please don’t apologize,” Tess said as she closed and locked the door this time. She gestured for Chloe to put her purse down on the entry table and follow her into the living room. “We both know I need all the help I can get when it comes to this wedding stuff.” She took a seat on the couch and waited for Chloe to do the same. “Besides, I think you finally got it through Hal’s thick skull that you’re not as terrible as he made you out to be,” she teased. She motioned to the folder in Chloe’s hand. “Let’s save that for when Hal’s mom gets here. How have you been?” she asked.

Tess hadn’t had a chance to talk to Chloe since everything had happened aside from the brief phone call when she’d invited her to lunch. She imagined things had been crazy on her end as well the past few days.

Chloe put the folder down and leaned back into the couch. “Yes well I’m sure it didn’t hurt that I yelled at him and made him feel bad,” She joked. The truth was when Hal wasn’t being such an ass, he was actually pretty funny, but she didn’t get to see much of that side of him because he was always being mean to her. Hopefully the little wakeup call she’d given him would last.

“Things are definitely busy, and I’m exhausted, but things are also good. I’ve been attempting to track Desmond as best as I can, but whenever I finally pick up on his trail he’s already moved on. I’m starting to think he might be worse than Lex. At least he got cocky and slipped up. Somehow I don’t think this guy has that problem,” She told Tess with a sigh before shaking her head and smiling again.

“But ever since Oliver decided to get back out there he’s been going out every night and I don’t know. He seems almost happy again and I know that sounds off considering what’s going on and all, but it’s true. He patrols for a few hours and he’s still got a tone of energy when he gets home.” She said while crossing her legs.

“It’s like the old Ollie is back, which is nice, because I missed him more than I care to admit,” she told her quietly as she caught Tess’s eyes. “What about you? How are things going anything new to report?” She asked softly.

“It is nice to have Oliver back,” Tess agreed. She’d started noticing the change in him the day they’d had lunch and his mood had been steadily inclining since then. She knew he was worried about Desmond, but he was also more determined than ever and that was nice to see after the way he’d been the past few months.

“I’m okay. Hal is worried about me every second of the day which isn’t really healthy for either of us. I think he’s having flashbacks to what happened with Lex not to mention the first time Desmond kidnapped me. I think it will be good for him to spend some time with Oliver and do something non-criminal related. Just like it will be good for us,” Tess added. She was about to say something else when there was another knock on the door. “I’ll be right back.” She smoothed her hand over her skirt and made her way down the hall to the door, pausing to check the peephole before she opened it for Hal’s mother.

“Mrs. Jordan thanks for coming,” Tess said. She greeted the other woman with a warm smile despite the fact that she’d basically accused Tess of being a terrible person who was not worthy of her son. Tess was willing to write it off as wedding craziness since she had been nothing but kind and welcoming to her in the past.

"Tess, sweetheart how are you?" She asked. Jessica sent Tess a wide smile before making her way into the apartment. When Tess first called to invite her over, she realized that things might be a little awkward. She had always liked Tess, but ever since she and Hal had come over for dinner a few months back, Jessica couldn't shake the feeling that the younger woman was hiding something and then with all the mixed signals with the wedding, she had just assumed Tess was getting cold feet. And if after five years a woman still wasn't sure she wanted to marry you, Jessica didn't think a couple of more months would change that.

She was just trying to protect her son, but when Oliver's girlfriend mentioned plans for the wedding to her son and seemed surprised to see her there Jessica realized that somewhere down the line their wires must have gotten crossed. It was obvious now that Hal and Tess wanted a small intimate wedding and she figured Tess had been dodging her calls because she didn't think she would listen to reason. So, now Jessica was more than willing to go along with any of the ideas her son and soon to be new daughter in law had come up with that way they could all be involved in getting things ready for the wedding.  
  
"I was so glad to hear from you," she said sincerely while pulling the other woman into a quick hug. When she shifted back a small frown marred her features. "I just wanted to apologize for all the trouble I caused recently, but I want you to know that if a small wedding is what Hal and you want, I'm okay with that.". She said lightly as she stood to the side of the front door.

Tess smiled gratefully. “Thank you,” she said. “I’m glad you could make it today. I know you’ve wanted to talk about the wedding for awhile and it’s my fault I keep canceling. Things have been busy at work and Hal has been busy with his job and I’m sorry if I made you think the wedding wasn’t a priority. It is,” she assured her. Tess knew it didn’t seem that way but just because she wasn’t drooling over dresses and cakes every five minutes didn’t mean she wasn’t thrilled that she was going to be Hal’s wife. She loved him more than anything and she’d always thought Jessica knew that.

“Please come on,” she added when the older woman continued to hover near the doorway. Tess closed and locked the door again and led Jessica down the hall. “I’m sure you remember Chloe,” she said as she motioned for Jessica to take a seat. “Should we eat now or did you want to go over plans first?” she asked.

Jessica gave Tess a grateful look as she glanced at the blonde sitting on the couch. "Yes of course I remember her." She smiled and sat next to Chloe patting her leg lightly. "How are you my dear? And how is that boyfriend of yours? Why I can't remember the last time I saw Oliver," she said while tapping her chin. Jessica turned towards Tess and gave her a stern look. "The next time you see him you tell my son's best friend that he better come to dinner with you two the next time you make your way to the house," she told her lightly.

Chloe chuckled at the other woman before sending an amused glance in Tess's direction. It was utterlly adorable how Hal and Oliver fought some of the baddest criminals on the street every night and yet she wouldn't be surprised if both men were afraid of Jessica Jordan. There was just something about Mom's. "It's nice to see you again too Mrs. Jordan." Chloe glanced between Tess and Jessica before speaking. "Why don't we plan a little first unless you ladies are hungry of course," she said with a small smile.

“I’m not very hungry,” Tess admitted as she took a seat in the chair across from them. Her appetite had been non-existent since Hal had told her that Desmond was back. She gestured to the folder Chloe had placed on the table earlier. “Why don’t you show Mrs. Jordan what you found?” she suggested. Tess felt bad for putting all the pressure on Chloe but she couldn’t exactly start the discussion herself since she hadn’t bothered to look into anything. Tess tried not to wince at the thought. No wonder Jessica thought she was a bad fiancée. She hadn’t even thought about what kind of dress she wanted.

Chloe could see the hint of guilt in Tess's eyes and her heart went out to the other woman. She knew if it was up to the red head the wedding would most likely be just the four of them somewhere simple. Chloe also knew Tess was feeling bad for not looking into wedding stuff sooner, but it wasn't exactly like she'd had time. Tess was constantly on the move and with everything going on around them who could blame her for not having time for wedding stuff.

Chloe swallowed hard and gave them a bright smile. "Sure," she said while reaching for the new folder she'd brought with her. "I narrowed down the flower choices like you asked me to. I've got four different types of bouquet’s in here," she told them while handing one paper to Tess and the other to Jessica. "And I know you don't want the dress to be too gaudy something elegant and simple, so I took the list you gave me and narrowed it down even more to which dresses I though might look best with your body type," she said with a smile as she gave them another sheet of paper with dresses on them.  
  
Technically she might have sent a picture to a dress maker and explained what Tess was looking for and these were styles she'd recommended, but it was basically the same thing. "We can start here."  
  
Jessica nodded as she glanced over the papers before looking over at Tess with a surprised smile. "Well it looks like I might have underestimated you, these are gorgeous Tess. And I can see how you'd want to go for the simple yet elegant look. You'll look beautiful in any one of these," she said her expression warm.

“Thank you, Mrs. Jordan,” Tess said. Her cheeks heated with a faint blush at the compliment and the second Jessica’s eyes were back on the paper, Tess caught Chloe’s gaze and mouthed the words “thank you” to her. Tess was definitely going to have to find something nice she could do for the other woman since she had saved her ass on more than one occasion now when it came to this wedding.

She turned her attention to the pictures in her hands and Tess couldn’t help the small gasp that came out of her mouth. The dresses really were beautiful. She’d never been the type of woman who agonized over what to wear or fantasized about dressing up as a princess. All she’d ever wanted growing up was to find a way out and once she’d gotten that, Tess had kept her focus on other things. But she had to admit the idea of putting on one of these dresses was rather appealing. She selected one of the pictures and placed it on the table. “This is the one,” she said decisively.

Chloe mouthed 'you're welcome' back before both woman glanced at the dress she pointed to and Chloe smiled. "It's gorgeous." She said quietly and Jessica readily agreed. The older woman motioned towards the body of the dress. "This will look gorgeous on you with your figure. Do you know what kind of material you want?" She asked lightly not wanting the other woman to feel like she was trying to push her into anything.

  
Chloe's eye's drifted over the wedding dresses as Jessica continue to ask Tess questions and her thoughts briefly flashed to what Oliver would look like in a tux next to Hal on his wedding day. She imagined he'd make it look as good as he made everything else look. A smile smile played on her lips as she turned her focus on the paper full of bouqet's.

“I know there’s a minute difference between silk and satin but personally I’ve never been able to figure out what it is,” Tess said with a shrug. “I’m sure one of those will work and maybe we can just leave that decision up to the seamstress,” she suggested. Tess didn’t care one way or the other and she doubted Hal would even notice the difference when he put his hands on her. She let her mind wander for a moment as she pictured their first dance and Hal holding her against him. A small smile played across her lips until her mind started to drift elsewhere and Tess quickly put a halt to that train of thought. It was not appropriate to think about Hal that way with his mother two feet away; even if he was going to be her husband.

She glanced at the pages Chloe was looking at and saw ten different versions of flowers that all looked the same to her. Tess loved roses but they weren’t really a wedding flower and aside from that she had no preference but she could see that Jessica was looking at the pictures with interest. “Mrs. Jordan, I would really like your opinion on the flowers. The ones Maria used in her wedding were gorgeous. I trust your taste,” Tess told her.

Jessica smiled proudly, "Thank you Tess." She said as she reached over and squeezed the other woman's hand lightly glad to have something to do. She looked back at the paper in front of her concentration on her face. She looked over the arrangements and less than five minutes later she placed the paper on the coffee table and pointed to the bouquet that was least like the other. "I think this one would be nice for you." She said softly.

"It's unconventional and unique. Something quite fitting with how my son see's you," she told Tess with a smile. "He says you're one of a kind and so you should have things around you that are as well." She told her nonchalantly as Chloe nodded.  
  
"I agree," she said while marking it off on the list she held in her hands.

Tess felt herself blushing again and for the first time she was starting to understand why people got so emotional at weddings. It really meant a lot to her that Hal’s mom was being so sweet especially after the way she’d been purposely avoiding her for weeks. “Thank you,” she said. Tess looked at the bouquet and decided Jessica was right. It was unique and it would go really well with the dress she’d picked out. She glanced at Chloe and saw the other woman was looking at her checklist. Tess bit back a smile as she met Jessica’s eyes across the room and subtly nodded her head toward the blonde.

“I really think this is a great choice and I’m glad Chloe likes it because I’m going to make sure she’s the one who catches it,” she said nonchalantly.

Chloe snorted and didn't even bother looking up from her checklist, but a grin pulled at her lips. "Nice try Mercer soon to be Jordan, but it's going to take more that a hand full of flowers to get my butt down the aisle." She said casually. "I'm perfectly content in my relationship. No need to go making any big changes and fixing what isn't broke." She said before looking pointedly at Tess a hint of humor in her eyes.

Jessica waved Chloe off. “Oh sweetheart you'll be so happy when Oliver proposes you'll forget all about your fears of commitment," she said lightly with a smile. "Once he see's how happy Hal is when he and Tess are married I'm sure it won't be long for you two." She said with a dreamy sigh.  
  
Chloe's eyes widened, "Uh, no...I'm the maid of honor...that's all. So about those flowers..." She said letting her voice trail off.

Tess opened her mouth to point out that she hadn’t made any decisions on whether or not she was going to change her name, but she figured that probably was not a wise discussion to have with Hal’s mother in the room. She knew the conversation would eventually turn to babies and that was something else Tess still needed time to think about. It wasn’t that she was against the idea of having kids but with the lives they led, they had to be really sure they could handle it and since she couldn’t explain that logic to Jessica, Tess was not going to bring it up.

She wasn’t going to bring up the fact that she would bet money Oliver and Chloe would end up married within a few years if not sooner either. It was fun to tease Chloe but she had done Tess a lot of favors so she wasn’t going to embarrass her or push the issue. “Why don’t we take a break and eat?” she suggested. Tess didn’t really think it was necessary to make every decision at once and she wasn’t sure how long Oliver would actually manage to keep Hal out of the house so she figured they should eat before the guys came back to check on them.

Jessica glanced between the girls and nodded. "Lunch sounds like a good plan," she said while placing the papers down on the table. She could use a drink and the girls looked like they were hungry. "So, how did you manage to get my son out of the house today?" She asked while standing.

  
Chloe followed suit and grinned. "He's with Ollie." She said before Tess had a chance to open her mouth. "They're doing uh," she paused, "Guy stuff...what are they doing Tess?" She asked while glancing over her shoulder at her friend.

“Oliver mentioned something about his tailor so I think he took Hal to get fitted for a tux. I can’t say that I’m sorry I’m missing that,” Tess said. She moved into the kitchen and gathered the food she’d placed on the counter earlier and transferred it to the table. While Jessica and Chloe sat down, Tess grabbed the bottles of water and set them in front of the women before taking her seat. “Hal isn’t exactly good at following directions,” Tess explained to Chloe as she shot Jessica a knowing look. “He’s not going to enjoy being told to stand still while the tailor is doing his job. It’s a good thing Oliver has the money to pay him extra,” she joked as she unwrapped her sandwich and set it on the plate.

Jessica chuckled. "My son definitely has a mind of his own." She said amusement coloring her features as she reached for the water Tess put in front of her.

Chloe smiled as she sat down at the kitchen table. "I think it's cute that they're finally getting to spend some time together. Everyone has been so busy lately that they haven't really had a chance to do any guy related things," she said lightly as her eyes roamed over the food Tess bought as her stomach grumbled.  
  
"They've been stuck with us lately," she joked, "Or more importantly we've been stuck with them." Chloe grinned as she brought her bottle of water to her lips.  
  
Jessica laughed again, "Men, you can't live with them and you can't live without them," she told them softly.

Tess reached across the table and squeezed her hand, but she didn’t say anything. She doubted there were any words that would give her comfort as she thought about the man she’d lost. Tess couldn’t imagine that kind of pain even though she knew it was a possibility every time Hal went up in the air, either in a plane or as Green Lantern. But she had to trust that he would come back to her because the alternative was too much to think about. “How is Hal’s favorite nephew doing?” she asked a few minutes later, wanting to bring the conversation to a much lighter subject as they ate their lunches.

Jessica gave Tess a grateful smile. "He's perfect, getting bigger every day," she said with a bright smile before glancing between the two women beside her, a hint of mischief in her eyes. "You know there can never be too many children around..." She let her voice trail off as she arched an eyebrow at both of them.

Chloe smirked. "I already have a child, perhaps you met him," she said, "about yay big, blonde hair, brown eyes, quite the handful. He expects my attention at least twelve of the twenty-four hours in a day," she joked while pointing to Tess. "But I bet Hal and Tess will make you some adorable grandbabies." She teased.  
  
Jessica grinned as she eyed Tess, "I don't doubt they will," she said with a grin.

“One thing at a time,” Tess said as she struggled not to choke on her lunch. But she smiled at Jessica so the woman would know that she was only joking. Now that things were good again, she didn’t want to start any new trouble by getting into her issues with having kids. A comfortable silence fell over the table as everyone concentrated on eating for a few minutes and Tess found herself feeling more relaxed than she had in days.

She’d kept the wedding planning on the backburner for a long time but now she was glad they had something to focus on other than Desmond’s quest to destroy Oliver’s life. She just hoped the guys were enjoying themselves as much as she and Chloe were.

 

______

 

Hal grunted as he glared down at the tailor who was attempting to fit the tux to his body. It was just after three and he wanted to go home. He hated when people poked and prodded at him and it was possible he might have knocked the man down a couple of times, but completely on accident of course. He was fidgeting again and glanced towards the clock wondering what Tess was up to with his Mother and Chloe. He had tried to rush his friend through their activities and Oliver wouldn’t hear of it.

After an hour or so Hal had calm down though and enjoyed spending time with his best friend again. It wasn’t until about three pokes ago that he started getting antsy. He needed to check in on Tess and make sure she was okay. He knew he was being ridiculous, but he couldn’t help it. Desmond was out there somewhere doing god knows what while he left Tess unprotected and got fitted for a tux. He was officially getting the worst fiancé of the year award.

He sighed lightly as he glanced between Oliver and the man near his legs. “Are we almost done here? I’m starving,” He said a hint of boredom in his voice. He wouldn’t be able to go home until he and Oliver had lunch. So the quick they ate the quicker he could check on Tess. It wasn’t that he didn’t like spending time with his friend it was just that he’d prefer to spend time with Oliver at his apartment where he knew Tess was okay.

Oliver gave the tailor, Frank, an apologetic smile as the older man mumbled something under his breath and made a notation on his clipboard. Hal had been complaining the entire time they’d been there even though Oliver had pointed out several times that it would go faster if he would just hold still. Frank held the measuring tape to Hal’s other leg and placed a pin in the pants as Hal let out another yelp. Oliver barely bit back a smile as his friend continued to glare at the top of Frank’s head. It was obvious the tailor was poking him on purpose and Oliver couldn’t really blame him.

“Hal, relax,” Oliver said for what felt like the millionth time that afternoon. He’d been doing his best to do what Tess had asked him to and keep Hal busy but his friend was starting to wear him down. Oliver knew he was worried, but Tess was fine. Oliver had texted Chloe while Hal fought with Frank and she’d told him the afternoon was going well and her systems were telling her everything was quiet on the criminal front. Things were still bad at night but it seemed like fewer criminals were coming out during the daylight hours and Oliver was glad his job was getting a little easier.

“You’re all set,” Frank said. He gave Hal another cold look and motioned for him to go in the back and take of the tuxedo before he turned his attention to Oliver. “Mr. Queen, would you like to do your fitting today as well?” he asked.

Oliver shook his head. He’d planned on it but Hal’s had taken much longer than expected. “I’ll stop by in a few days. Thanks for your help, Frank.” He shook the tailor’s hand and gave him another apologetic smile as he waited for Hal to change into his regular clothes so they could go to lunch.

Hal grumbled as he pulled off the suit piece by piece. He hated getting dressed up for any and all events. Unfortunatly his wedding was one of those event he couldn't exactly get out of wearing formal wear for and he was okay with that. Or at least he was until Oliver's demon tailor Frank had started jabbing him with pins.

  
Hal pursed his lips as he pulled on his jeans and. Tossed his shirt over his head. He felt around his pockets for his cell phone and frowned when he didn't feel it anywhere. He shook his head, apparently his best friend thought he was slick. He grabbed the tux, put it back on the hanger and brought it out to the main room.  
  
He handed it to Frank, "Here you go Jabby Mcjabberson," he said as the tailor took the text. He walked over to Oliver and gave his friend a light glare. "Give me my phone back please so I can check in on my fiancé and make sure my Mother isn't driving her crazy. Also I was thinking we could grab lunch for all of us and bring it back to the apartment, doesn't that sound like a good plan?" He asked lightly while moving toward the door.

“Negative,” Oliver replied. He patted Hal on the back as they made their way out of the store. “First of all, I have no idea where your phone is. Maybe you left it at home.” Or maybe he’d taken it out of Hal’s pocket and slipped it into the inner pocket of his leather jacket. But unless his friend was going to start groping him, he wasn’t getting it back. “I, however, do have my phone and Chloe texted me and told me the wedding planning was going great and Tess and your mom are both enjoying themselves.”

He pulled out his car keys and pressed the button to unlock the doors as he moved around to the driver’s side and met Hal’s glare over the top of the car. “Chloe also said they already ate and they’re working on stuff that has to do with Tess’s dress so you’re not allowed anywhere near the apartment. What do you feel like getting for lunch?” he asked as he slid into the driver’s seat and started the car. Oliver knew Hal wasn’t going to be happy, but he’d promised Tess he would keep him out for a few more hours and he wasn’t going to let her down. He also had Bart making routine sweeps of the building and he’d assured him everything was fine.

Hal glared at Oliver as he pulled open the door and got it, buckling his seatbelt and crossing his arms over his chest. "I don't care what we eat," he said before sighing lightly and glancing at Oliver. His voice was calm when he spoke, but his eyes were clouded with worry. "Look I know I've been suffocating Tess, but this is how I am keeping myself sane until we get this psychopath behind bars." He told his friend quickly.

  
"Also I know you have my phone, there's no way I' leave without it and I find it highly hypocritical that you can text your girlfriend back and forth every few minutes and yet you won't let me text the woman I'm going to marry," he said pointedly.  
  
"I need to know she's okay and I realize everyone thinks I'm being ridiculous, but I've almost lost Tess twice now, if the situation was reversed you'd be the same way so unless you want to hear me complain and see me glare at you for the next however long you've kidnapped me for, you'll let me text Tess real quick and check in." He told his friend with a nod as he held out his hand.  
  
"Then I promise all my attention will be on you." Hal grinned, "I know how you need to be the center of attention," he teased while still holding out his hand.

Oliver considered it. He knew Hal was right and if the situation was reversed he would be furious if Hal didn’t let him text Chloe. Besides, he’d promised Tess that he would keep Hal busy for the afternoon, not that he would cut off all contact. “Fine, but then I expect your full attention because I feel neglected,” he deadpanned as he reached into his pocket and pulled out Hal’s phone. He tossed it to his friend and glanced in the side view mirror before pulling the car away from the curb. “But I get to pick where we have lunch.” He was in the mood for Italian food so he turned left at the light and drove away from the center of the city while Hal concentrated on his phone.

Hal smirked as he typed out a message to Tess letting her know that he knew she was the one who told Oliver to take his phone and she'd pay for it later. "Whatever, I don't particularly care where we eat. My stomach feels like I haven't fed it in days." He said while sending the message and then glancing at his friend as he shook his head. "You know I need to be fed every few hours, maybe that's why I'm so cranky. You're not doing your job as my best friend." He joked while gripping the phone in his hand.

"What are we eating anyway?" He asked as he let his body calm down and relax into the seat.

“I see you wasting away before my eyes,” Oliver quipped as he slowed the car down for a red light. He glanced sideways at his friend. “I was thinking we’d go to that Italian place near the office. But you should probably watch your food intake. I’m not sure Frank will agree to do any alterations on your tux if your measurements change in the next few months,” he teased. The light changed and he pressed down on the accelerator as his eyes searched the street for a parking spot.

“So what else do we need to do to get you ready for this wedding?” Oliver asked as he expertly paralleled parked his car across the street from the restaurant. Oliver had never planned a wedding and he wasn’t really sure what else went into it. He shut off the engine and turned to face Hal. “I hope you’re not planning on alienating anymore of my go to people like you did with Frank. It wouldn’t have killed you to stand still,” he pointed out as he unbuckled his seatbelt and pocketed the car keys.

Hal's brow creased. "I don't get fat first off. High metabolism and you know crime fighting." He said as he pointed to his stomach. "I have less than five percent fat on my body." He bragged before unbuckling his seatbelt. "Also I don't know how to stand still you know that, you should have tranq'ed me if you wanted me still," he joked while pushing the door open. "Also I have no idea how to plan a wedding...I'm basically just doing what Tess told me to do," he said sheepishly.

"She said Chloe said they were going over dresses so we should do the tux thing. I got her a ring...I guess there needs to be a church and food." He said his voice trailing off as he walked around the car. "And uh...Yeah." He said while nodding.

Oliver laughed. “I’m sure Tess will give you further instructions. I guess we’re good for now.” He smiled at the hostess and requested a table for two. She led them to a table, took their drinks orders and left them with menus, promising their server would be with them shortly. Oliver flipped open his menu and scanned the choices even though he already knew what he wanted. “So aside from the wedding and the Desmond issue, how have you and Tess been?’ he asked as he reached for his water.

The two of them hadn’t really talked much lately and Oliver knew that was his fault. Hal had been upset with him over the bad choice he had made and it had put a strain on their friendship. Now that things were back to normal, Oliver wanted to make an effort to spend more time with his friend. He’d really missed him when things had been weird between them.

Hal smiled as he glanced up from his menu. "Things are going good. We're both tired, but things have gotta better lately." He said lightly. When Oliver wasn't patrolling Hal had been gone a lot and by the time he got home he was always so exhausted that he'd drag Tess off to bed and promptly fall asleep. A lot of the nights she had already been in bed waiting for him. 

It had been tiring and stressful, but now that Oliver was back to being Green Arrow he was actually home at a decent time and he and Tess had a lot more free time to spend together. Things were still busy, but manageable. "I'm hoping we can set a solid date sometime soon. is it wrong that I sort of want to get the wedding over so I can get to the part where Tess is my wife?" He asked with a small grin.

“I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that. Tess probably feels the same way,” Oliver said. He closed his menu and reached for one of the breadsticks that had been placed in the center of the table. The appointment with the tailor had taken longer than he’d expected and he was starving. He was hungrier than usual lately but he figured that was to be expected with the amount of patrolling he’d been doing. Not to mention all the physical activity he and Chloe had been partaking in. Oliver smiled to himself at the thought.

The server came with their drinks and took their lunch orders. Oliver was about to ask Hal another question when his cell phone beeped. “Sorry man, this is the office. I’ve got to take this. Oliver Queen,” he answered as he brought the phone to his ear. Oliver listened patiently as Tess’s assistant filled him in on a problem at the office. He told her who to contact and to copy him and Tess on the email and then hung up the phone. “Sorry,” he apologized to Hal again. “Mary has been out sick and Stella is doing double duty.”

Hal nodded and waved him off as he took a sip of water. "No big deal." His brows creased at the rest of Oliver's words. "Mary's sick?" He asked, "That's weird I don't remember her ever taking a sick day since I met you," he said with a shrug as he reached for a bread stick. 

"I think you're right about Tess. If I didn't think my Mother would have a heart attack I would see if Tess wanted to elope." He told his friend lightly while popping a piece of the bread stick in his mouth as he leaned back in his seat. "How are things going with you and Chloe?" He asked knowing he hadn't really made an effort to let his friend talk about his relationship in the past and wanting to change that.

Oliver nodded. “She’s worked for me for almost ten years and she’s never taken an unscheduled day off. I sent her flowers the other day but aside from the messages she leaves with Stella to let us know she’s not coming in, I haven’t heard from her. If she’s not back tomorrow, maybe I’ll drop by her place and see if she needs anything else.” Oliver had tried calling her a few times and kept getting her voicemail. He didn’t want to call constantly if she was trying to get some rest but he was starting to worry about her. He pushed the nagging thoughts aside and focused on Hal’s other question.

“Chloe and I are good. Really good,” Oliver added with a smile. He appreciated that Hal seemed to finally be coming around as far as Chloe was concerned. It had been really hard for him not to be able to talk to his best friend about the woman he loved without there being an underlying tension between them. “She’s been amazing through everything. I really don’t think I could have gotten through the past few months without her,” he admitted.

Hal nodded. "Yeah, I'm getting that you're sort of helpless without her," he teased before pursing his lips and clearing his throat. "I wanted to apologize about the way I've been acting towards her," he told his friend softly as he glanced down at his water. "I never really gave her a chance even after she was the one who got the evidence to finally send Lex to jail." Hal glanced up and gave Oliver a one armed shrug.  
  
"I should have cut her some slack. She's incredibly loyal to you and that should have been enough for me." He said with half a smile. "Plus if it wasn't for her the team would have fallen a part while you were gone and my Mom would still be angry with Tess." Hal finished off the last of his break before catching Oliver's eye. "Tess said it was Chloe who's been looking into the wedding stuff and that she'd be lost without her...So I guess what I'm trying to say is," he paused for a minute and took a deep breath.  
  
"I was wrong about her and I'm sorry for being a douche," he said lightly right before the waiter interrupted and brought their food over. He placed the plates down, asked if they needed anything else and when Hal said no the man nodded and moved on to his other tables.

“You were a douche,” Oliver agreed. But he smiled at Hal across the table. “I appreciate that, man. Chloe understood why you were unhappy with her about what happened in Metropolis but it is time to get past that and I’m glad you’re finally seeing the error of your ways,” he teased. Oliver had been unhappy with Hal’s blatant refusal to give Chloe a chance no matter how much he and Tess pushed him too but he wasn’t going to dwell on it anymore. Hal had apologized to him and he’d apologized to Chloe and it was long past time for all of them to move forward.

“Maybe once the mess in Star City is finally resolved and we put Desmond where he belongs, the four of us can hang out more often,” Oliver suggested. He picked up his knife and fork and cut into his chicken marsala. “I think we could all use a break from everything.” Their lives had always been chaotic but he felt like the past year had just been one crisis after another.

Hal nodded as he pulled a piece of steak into his mouth. "Sure, we need to get this wedding thing moving along anyway and you realize since you're the best man you have to like...help." He said slightly amused. "Oh better idea. Tess and I can let you and Chloe plan the whole thing and we can just show up," he said thrilled with his new idea as the phone in his pocket vibrated. He lifted it out and glanced over the screen grin on his face.

"It's Tess. She said she's alive and found her wedding dress. She also said something about my Mother talking to them about babies." He shook his head and chuckled as he glanced at Oliver. "Apparently my Mother wants lots of grandchildren so I should get on that now," he snickered before taking a sip of his drink and pocketing the phone.  
  
Hal wasn't against kids in the slightest. He actually enjoyed being around them. He loved his nephew, but he also knew Tess wasn't ready for kids, though his Mother bringing up the topic amused him. He wished he could have seen the look on her face.

Oliver laughed. “I’m not sure what is more frightening; the thought of a miniature Hal or a miniature Tess,” he teased. “I do wish I could have been there to see the look on Tess’s face when your mom brought it up. I should have told Chloe to tape it on her phone.” He laughed again and added another piece of chicken to his fork. It was strange to think about his two best friends with a kid. But he supposed that was the next step after marriage. He could only imagine how much more neurotic Hal would become as a father.

“Seriously though, if there’s anything you need me to do for the wedding, just ask,” Oliver said as he reached for his glass of wine. Despite his teasing earlier about the tailor, Oliver wanted to do whatever he could to help make things easier on his friends. They’d certainly done enough for him the past few months.

"I would have paid money to see that. I'm sure my Mom will bring it up again though," he said with a grin. His Mom was good like that. She had a tendency to bring up things that np one wanted to talk about, he supposed most parents did.

He lifted some vegetables into his mouth, chewed and swallowed. "Like I said, maybe Tess and I will runaway and let you and Chloe plan the wedding. It will be good practice for when you inevitably tie the knot." He teased his friend as he ate another piece of steak.  
  
He was glad things were finally getting back to normal with them. He had really missed hanging out with Oliver and once they took care of Desmond, they could all finally relax once and for all.

Oliver snorted. “I don’t think you need to worry about renting your best man tux just yet,” he said. Oliver was confident that if he even considered proposing to Chloe she would run in the other direction fast enough to rival Bart’s speed. He didn’t mind though. Their relationship was unconventional but they were happy and for now that was good enough for him. He took another bite of his chicken and gave his friend a thoughtful look across the table.

“So what are the odds I can talk you into seeing a movie or something after lunch?” he asked. Oliver doubted Hal would go for it since he’d already been away from Tess for most of the day and they would need to hit the streets for patrol in a few hours. But he figured he might as well try to keep his friend distracted a little longer.

Hal hesitated. "Why don't we all have dinner together instead?" He asked while shifting in his seat. He'd already been away from Tess longer thank he was comfortable with while Desmond was out there. "We can order in and rent a movie before heading out on patrol," he suggested.

Oliver was about to tell his friend that sounded like a good idea when his phone rang again. “Sorry,” he said as he glanced at the caller ID and saw it was another call from the office. Oliver spent nearly ten minutes on the phone trying to sort out an issue with a new order. When he was finally finished, he sent Hal an apologetic look across the table. “I think we’re going to have to rain check dinner and a movie. This deal is a mess. I need to go home and get some files and then I have to stop by the office. I guess this is why I don’t take personal days,” he joked.

Hal nodded. He knew it was harder for Oliver to get away from work then it was for him. Running a business was never easy and he knew both Oliver and Tess were always on the go. "Not a big deal, lucky for you I accept rain check's," he joked while finishing up the last of his food. He caught Oliver's gave and gave him half a smile.

"Look I know I was a pain in the ass today, but I want you to know I appreciated you helping me with the whole tux thing," he said before pausing. "And I'm glad you're here." Hal leaned forward and lifted his drink to his lips taking a long sip. He wanted Oliver to know he was glad to have him back, but he didn't want to actually be all cheesy and say it.

“Do you want to hug me?” Oliver asked. “If you do, we should probably wait until we’re outside because I like to come to this place,” he joked. But he grinned at Hal across the table. It was really nice having his friend back even if he was a pain in the ass. “And you’re welcome for the help on the tux thing. We all know you can’t dress yourself,” he teased looking pointedly at Hal’s t-shirt. The server came over to clear their plates and Oliver handed him his credit card for the bill after both men declined dessert.

Hal rolled his eyes. "My shirt is comfortable and awesome," he told his friendly pointedly. "And if you want a hug as your girlfriend for one. I'm sure she won't mind touching your nasty self." He joked as he scrunched his nose and nodded his thanks at the server before he disappeared to go charge the card so they could head out.

“That’s cute,” Oliver said as he rolled his eyes at his friend’s dramatics. People always accused him of being overly dramatic but Oliver was convinced Hal was much worse than he was. “Trust me when I tell you that I would rather have Chloe’s hands on me than yours any day.” He smirked at his friend as the server returned with his card. Oliver added the tip to the bill and signed the receipt before he slipped his card back into his wallet and stood up. “Come on, man. I need to drop your sorry ass off with your girlfriend so I can go to my job.”  

Hal chuckled as he stood. "I bet you would. Something tells me your girlfriend has a bit of a wild side. Tess is like that." He said lightly. "Don't tell her I told you this, but sometimes I get her angry on purpose because she incredibly hot when pissed." He said with a smirk as they walked through the restaurant towards the doors.

Oliver smirked. “You have no idea,” he said as he pulled out his car keys and unlocked the doors. “I don’t pick fights with my girlfriend on purpose though. She’s definitely hot when she’s angry but I’d prefer it not to be directed my way. Good to know you like to push Tess’s buttons though,” he joked as he slid behind the wheel once again and started the car. He was having fun with Hal but he really needed to get to the office and straighten out the deal before five. Oliver didn’t want to end up working late when he was needed on patrol.

Hal shrugged as he buckled himself in. "What Tess doesn't know won't hurt her. Besides its never anything big. Just little stuff that I can easily make up for," he said with a smirk as Oliver pulled the car away from the curb.

“You mean what Tess doesn’t know won’t hurt  _you_ ,” Oliver corrected. He gave Hal a pointed look as he steered the car toward the expressway. “Don’t worry; your secret is safe with me although Tess is probably onto you already. Not much gets by her,” he pointed out. Oliver was glad to see it was still early enough that traffic was light. He figured it wouldn’t take him more than twenty minutes to get to Coast City.


	15. Chapter 15

Oliver ended up sitting in traffic for nearly an hour on the way back from Coasty City after an accident on the expressway brought the cars to a standstill. Oliver was on the phone the entire time guiding Stella through the process of what he needed done and then he had her conference in two of the vice presidents so that he could brief them on the situation. By the time he finished the call, Oliver was pulling his car into his private parking garage.

He told Stella to call it a night and he would take care of the proposals on his end and fax them from his home office. There were still a few changes to be made and Oliver was hoping he could convince Chloe to take care of them for him so he could get out on the streets. There was rain in the forecast for the evening and that usually meant a bump in crime.

“Good evening, Mr. Queen.” Andrew, the night manager greeted Oliver with a smile as he made his way through the lobby. “There was a package delivered for you earlier, Sir. I have it here.” He reached behind the counter and pulled out a plain brown box. “I was going to give it to Ms. Sullivan when she came through earlier but I was on the phone.” He gave Oliver a sheepish look.

“That’s okay. I’ll take it,” Oliver said. He glanced down at the package and was surprised to see that it was from Mary’s home address. Oliver absently muttered a thank you to Andrew and made his way into the elevator. As soon as the doors closed, he pried open the package, wondering what Mary could possibly be sending him. Oliver frowned when he saw the dark green tissue paper inside. He pushed it aside and his blood ran cold when he saw what was sitting in the bottom of the box.   
      
It was another ceramic boat. This one was smaller than the last one and it had been painted green with black arrows on the side. There was a tiny figurine in the shape of a woman sitting on the boat and wrapped around the figurine was Mary’s wedding ring. Oliver swallowed hard as he noticed there was more writing on the back of the boat. “Her time is almost up” was scrawled in red letters.

“Oh God,” Oliver muttered. His heartbeat sped up as familiar panic washed over him. He should have known something was wrong when Mary didn’t come to work for four days. She never called in sick and he realized now how it didn’t really make sense for her to call Stella instead of him. The elevator doors opened and Oliver practically ran into the apartment. “Chloe!” he shouted.

Chloe’s head whipped around towards the office door when she heard Oliver’s panicked voice. After leaving Tess and Hal’s apartment she had come home, gotten changed and made her way back into the office to continue the search for Desmond. There were several hits around the city where Desmond had been caught on several different camera’s, but no solid leads as to where he was or what he was up to.

Her body propelled forward as she pushed open the door and ran into the hallway anxiety welling in her chest. “Ollie what’s wrong?” She called out as she came to a stop in front of him, her hands searching his body to make sure he was okay while her eyes took him in trying to figure out what was wrong.

Oliver dropped the box on the table and wrapped his arms around Chloe, pulling her body tightly against him. “I’m okay. I’m sorry,” he said quickly when he saw the panic in her eyes. He hugged her close for a moment and then reluctantly let her go as he gestured to the box. “He has Mary. He’s toying with me, Chloe.” His words came out in a rush as his mind raced over all the possibilities. It had been almost five days since he’d seen her and he had to assume Desmond had had her this entire time.

“I need you to try and trace this.” He stepped away from Chloe and started down the hall to his equipment room. He had no idea where he was supposed to start, but he needed to do something. Desmond had managed to catch him off guard again and Oliver had to find him before it was too late for Mary.

Chloe opened and closed her mouth not sure what to say as he rushed down the hallway. Concern filled her as she glanced down at the box Oliver had put on the table. She lifted it up carefully and glanced at the boat frowning slightly. After spending the last few days looking into Desmond she had come to the conclusion that though he wasn’t cocky like Lex, he wanted Oliver to find him, which meant there had to be a clue somewhere in the package.

She held onto everything and moved back down the hallway and into the office. Chloe set the box down by the computers and started looking over it before taking a few digital pictures and putting them on the computer. She had one of the programs render an replica of the boat from the images and search for any kind of underlined patterns or messages that they were missing. She set an alert up for it before walking back into the hallway and making her way towards Oliver’s arrow room.

She paused just outside as he grabbed at different weapons. Chloe swallowed hard her chest tightening as she watched him. “Ollie, talk to me. I need to know what happened the last time you saw her. Did she say anything strange? Did she call out sick? How long has she been gone?” She asked him softly knowing throwing questions at him probably wasn’t the best idea, but knowing she needed as much information as she could get if she was going to be looking into this.

“Today was the fourth day in a row that she called in sick,” Oliver said. He holstered his crossbow and added explosives to the hidden compartments in his gloves. “She was fine the last time I saw her and each days she’s left a message with Tess’s assistant that she wasn’t feeling well.” He went to grab his glasses and swore loudly when they weren’t in their usual spot. He moved to the other side of the room; his head spinning as he tried to remember what else Chloe had just asked him. He was trying to figure out how he could have been so stupid. 

Desmond had done the same thing when he’d kidnapped Tess three years ago. Stella had gotten a message that Tess wasn’t coming into work because she wasn’t feeling well. But Hal had already told Oliver that she didn’t show up for their date the night before and they’d been searching for her. “I should have known,” he muttered as he searched the room for his glasses. “Where the hell are they?”

He shoved aside the clothes he’d been wearing and found the glasses underneath his shirt. He turned back to Chloe. “I’m going to start at her house. There might be a clue there. He grabbed his com from the counter and put the tiny device in his ear. “Call me if anything turns up,” Oliver started to leave and then changed his mind. He went back to Chloe, pulled her against him and kissed her. “I love you,” he said as he let her go and started for the door again.

“Ollie wait,” She said quickly before pausing not sure what she’d been about to say. Chloe hesitated before shaking her head. “Sorry…I love you too,” She said before clearing her throat and motioning for him to go. “I’ll make sure I get in touch with you if I find anything,” She told him quietly knowing that asking him anything else wouldn’t really help at the moment. She knew Oliver and right now he needed to be out there looking for Mary. If he didn’t feel useful, he’d fall apart. No one understood that better than she did.

Oliver nodded. “I’ll be careful,” he promised her. He started to walk away again and then met Chloe’s eyes over his shoulder. “Call Hal and tell him I need him to meet me there,” he said. Oliver knew there was a strong possibility he was walking into a trap and this time he wasn’t going to do it without backup. He doubted Desmond was keeping Mary at her house but there had to be a clue there and it wouldn’t hurt to have someone else looking for it with him. “I can be there in ten minutes. Tell him that I’m waiting and he needs to hurry.”

Chloe nodded her chest still tight as she studied his face. She was worried about him, but right now her worry for him needed to take a back seat. They had more important things to worry about. “I’ll do that now,” She said as she waved him off. “Go, I’ll get in touch with him and have him meet you there asap.” She told him as she started to moved back towards the office, a hint of fear gripping her at the thought that something could happen to Mary. She was such a sweet woman.

Oliver nodded, slipped his glasses on and hurried out the back door to the elevator. His mind was still racing as he tried to figure out why Desmond had gone after Mary. Aside from being his assistant, she had never had anything to do with Desmond or his experiments. As far as Oliver knew, they’d never had any interactions.

He knew Desmond was crazy but he couldn’t imagine he had a personal grudge against Mary which meant that he had taken her because she was close to him. She’d probably been the easiest target he could come up with. Oliver’s chest tightened as he jogged across the garage to his motorcycle. He forced himself to calm down. He wasn’t going to be any good to Mary if he couldn’t look at this rationally.   
      
 It took him less than ten minutes to get to Mary’s house. She lived in one of the smaller subdivisions near the edge of town close to the beach. Oliver parked his bike on the next street and stayed in the shadows as he moved toward her house, careful to avoid being seen by any of the neighbors who might be around. He crouched down near one of the back windows and reached under his hood to press the small device in his ear. “Watchtower, I’m in position,” he told her quietly. Oliver was anxious to go inside, but he knew he had to wait for Hal.

Chloe nodded even though he couldn’t see her. “Green Lanterns on his way,” She told him as her fingers moved against the keyboard quickly as she switched over to her other com and isolated Hal’s feed. “How long until you’re there?” She asked as she bit her lower lip.

Hal sped through the sky as he made his way to the address Chloe had given when she called to let him know what was going on less than fifteen minutes ago. He had immediately suited up, told Tess what was going on and took off to Star City. He shook himself out of his thoughts as he pressed the com in his ear so he could answer her. “Ten minutes give or take a few minutes.” He said as the wind rushed into him.

He needed to get to Oliver as soon as possible. Chloe sounded worried, which probably meant Oliver wasn’t doing to great with this, not that he blamed him. Like he told Chloe it took him just about ten minutes to find Oliver. His feet hit the ground and he bent down before walking over to where Oliver was crouched near the windows. “Arrow,” He greeted his voice tense. “What’s the plan?”

Oliver gave Hal a tense nod. “Her husband is a traveling salesman. He’s out of town for the next two weeks so the house should be empty but we have to be careful going in there in case there are any traps,” he told him. He motioned for Hal to go around the other side of the house while he made his way to the window.

Oliver picked the lock within a few minutes and pushed the window open. He scanned the area again to make sure no one was around and climbed into the window. He found himself in the kitchen and activated his night vision glasses as he scanned the room for any signs of a struggle. He could hear Hal moving around in the front part of the house.

“Do you see anything, Lantern?” Oliver called as he walked into the dining room. Nothing looked out of the ordinary. Each room was tidy and he didn’t see anything that indicated that Mary had been taken by surprise. Desmond had kidnapped Tess from the parking lot near the airfield. Oliver wondered if he had grabbed Mary from somewhere other than her house. Oliver walked down the hallway and ran into Hal as he came from the other side of the house. “Anything?” he asked again; voice laced with desperation.

Hal frowned and shook his head. “Nothing,” He said quietly his eyes once again looking around the room. He had looked through the entire front end of the house, but there was nothing there. His stomach sank as they continued moving through the room. Hal couldn’t help but think of Tess and when she was kidnapped by Desmond all those years ago. What if this was a trap? What if he was trying to distract them so he could get to Tess again?

Hal swallowed hard and held his ground. He was about to suggest they move to the next room when something caught his eye. He frowned. “What’s that?” He asked his friend as he pointed towards the small box on the small table in the hallway.

“I don’t know,” Oliver said. He reached into his belt and pulled out a small flashlight. He shined the light over the box and his chest tightened when he saw a small card with his name on the front. He picked it up and flipped it open. There was an address written on the inside. He showed it to Hal to see if he recognized it and he shook his head.

Oliver pressed his com again. “Watchtower, I need you to trace an address for me.” He read it off to Chloe and then reached for the box the card had been resting on. Inside was a ceramic boat identical to the one that had been sent to his apartment except this one had been smashed to pieces. “Sidekick, hurry,” he urged.

Oliver met Hal’s eyes as he waited for Chloe to get back to him. “He’s baiting me.” Oliver could only assume that he would find Mary at the location of the address but he had no idea what condition she’d been in. Oliver’s heart was pounding in his chest again as the worst case scenarios flashed through his head. What if he was too late to save Mary? “I should have known something was wrong sooner,” he said quietly.

Hal swallowed hard as he saw the familiar guilt in Oliver’s eyes. This wasn’t good. They couldn’t let Oliver go down that path again. Hal needed Mary to be okay. His friend had just gotten himself together and he wasn’t sure how much this new and improved Oliver could take, but he certainly didn’t want to test the theory. He placed a hand on Oliver’s shoulder. “This isn’t your fault man, you couldn’t have known,” He told him softly.

Chloe’s finger’s moved frantically over the keyboard as she ran the address through the system. Less than three minutes later the location popped up. Chloe frowned as she sent the coordinates to Oliver. “It’s a boat store…down near the marina. Lockwood Boat Works…have you heard of it?” She asked slightly confused as to why Desmond would give them that location. Chloe brought up the city’s power grid, she’d hacked into months before so she could have access to the cameras across the city, and found the location on the map so she could try and bring up a visual of the store.

When the picture was up, Chloe’s frown deepened. “It looks empty, so if she’s there, she’s inside.” She told him lightly as she continued working to see if she could make out heat signatures from inside the building to try and see what they were walking in on.

“I’m not familiar with it,” Oliver told Chloe as he racked his brain trying to remember if he’d ever been in the store or heard any reference to the place. He couldn’t come up with anything so Oliver had to assume that it was personal to Desmond and not to him. “Watchtower, we’re going to head that way now. I need you to look through all the stuff we have on Desmond and see if there’s a connection.” He turned his attention to Hal.

“That place is about ten minutes from here and you can get there faster than I can. Go,” Oliver said. He took the boat pieces and the card and stuffed them into one of the pouches in his belt in case there were more clues and hurried back down the hall to exit the way he’d come into the house. Oliver swallowed hard when he caught sight of a picture of Mary and her husband. They had to get to her on time. There was no other option.

Hal nodded and took off into the sky as Chloe continued running the store through the system. She frowned, her fingers moving against the keyboard quickly as she searched for any connection Desmond could have to the store near the marina. She brought up his financials from a few years ago when he was working for Queen Industries and it looked like he purchased a lot of his boat stuff there, but that was the only connection she could find.

She glanced up at the monitor on the right tracking Hal’s progress. “He’s about three minutes away from the store. It won’t be long. I can’t get a visual of the inside of the store though,” She told Oliver as her finger’s continued moving against the keys.

“Copy that, Watchtower. I’m on my way,” Oliver said as he jumped on his bike and quickly took off in the direction of the marina. There had to be another connection that they were missing. Desmond had put this entire thing together like a puzzle and he wanted Oliver to piece it together until he found him. That’s what this was about.

Mary was just the bait. She’d been the easiest target because she lived a fairly unassuming life. She did her job and then she went home and with her husband out of town for weeks at a time, no one would miss her.

But he should have. Oliver pushed the bike to its limits as he sped toward the marina. He’d known the first day that Mary had called in sick that something had been off. But instead of calling to check on her, he’d sent her flowers like she was just another employee. Oliver swallowed his guilt; it wasn’t going to help Mary right now.

He had to keep his head clear because there was a good chance Desmond would be there waiting for him and he couldn’t let his anger get the better of him again. That was why he’d asked Chloe to call Hal. Oliver didn’t trust himself to make a rational decision.

Hal stood in front of the store waiting for Oliver. He had patrolled the perimeter giving the layout a once over, but didn’t go inside just yet. His body was tense and he knew this could be it. If Desmond was leading Oliver here there had to be a reason. He pursed his lips his eyes taking in the street around them. He saw Oliver’s motorcycle round the corner and come to a stop not far from him. He walked towards his friend and motioned towards the store. “We going in?” He asked not sure if Oliver was waiting on Chloe to give them the go ahead.

“Chloe can’t get a visual so we have to go in,” Oliver replied. He knew it wasn’t the best plan but they didn’t have a choice. If Mary was in there, they had to get her out. “We’ll go in together and stay close,” he said. Oliver didn’t want to risk splitting up in case there was a trap. He motioned for Hal to follow him as he made his way toward the door, crossbow ready. It didn’t take long to pick the lock and he quietly pulled the door open, holding his breath for a moment to see if there was an alarm. He didn’t hear anything so the two of them moved silently into the store.

There were two overhead lights on so they weren’t in complete darkness. Oliver glanced around and saw there was a small display area in the front and the rest of the place was made up of long aisles of scaffolding that went to the ceiling. He could see a door on the opposite wall that he assumed led to some kind of employees only area. Oliver figured that’s where they would find Mary. He started off in that direction with Hal right behind him. Pushing open the door, the two men found themselves in a dark warehouse filled with crates.

“Damnit,” Oliver muttered. There had to be hundreds of them. He really wished Clark was there with his x-ray vision. But there had to be another way to narrow down the search because it would take hours for him and Hal to open each crate. Mary might not have that kind of time, assuming she was still alive. Oliver swallowed hard at the thought. She had to be okay. He reached up and pushed the button to activate the com in his ear. “Watchtower, I need you to use my phone to triangulate the satellite to focus on this room. We need to find Mary’s heat signature.”

“I’m on it,” Chloe said as her fingers flew against the keyboard doing what he asked. She could feel her heart beating quickly, trying not to think about how bad this could end up. She wasn’t sure what was going to happen with Oliver if they weren’t able to save Mary. The computer beeped and she shook herself out of her thoughts as she glanced at the monitor. The program was up and she could see the heat signatures in the room. She frowned when she only saw two. “Arrow, there are only two heat signatures. Are you sure you’re not looking for another boat there?” She asked hoping that, that was the case because if not, well the other option wasn’t exactly a good one.

His heart stopped at her words. “I don’t know,” Oliver replied quietly. Even if they were looking for another clue, they would be wasting precious time that Mary probably didn’t have. He made his way over to the first crate and checked the label on it. The address was for a boating supply company in Seattle.

Oliver assumed that was probably a parent company for this store. He glanced at Hal over his shoulder. “We need to look for any crate that looks out of the ordinary.” That had always been Desmond’s thing; he’d wanted to be special, flashy. He had blended in his entire life and he’d wanted to live in the spotlight.

Hal nodded and started making his way down another aisle full of boxes. He moved around the room glancing at labels and frowned. Something seemed off. Everything was too quiet and too…staged. He swallowed hard as anxiety welled in his chest. He was about to turn in the other direction when something caught his eye. He frowned and called out to Oliver. “Hey Arrow…what was the name of Desmond’s boat?” He asked while pausing in front of a large crate that was off to the side by itself.

“The Marina,” Oliver replied. He crossed the warehouse to where Hal was standing. He could tell right away that the crate was different from the other ones. It was larger and there was no label on the side; just the store’s address in block letters. But there was a picture of a boat in the corner with “The Marina” spelled out in green letters. As his heart pounded in his ears, Oliver moved forward, ignored Hal’s efforts to stop him and pulled the side of the crate open. “Oh God,” he muttered when he saw Mary inside.

She was wearing the clothes he’d last seen her in which meant that Desmond had had her the entire time she’d been gone. Her eyes were closed and she was much too still. Oliver could hear Hal saying something, but he couldn’t make out the words as he tugged off one of his gloves and brought his fingers to her neck. There was no pulse and her body was ice cold. Oliver’s chest tightened to the point he could barely breathe as he stared at the lifeless body of the woman who had been so good to him all these years. She’d known his parents and she was one of the few people who believed in Oliver when he came back from the island and wanted to turn the company around. Now she was gone and it was his fault.

Hal could see the guilt and failure in his friend’s eyes. He had tried to stop him from opening the crate knowing what he would find there. But Oliver had refused. He swallowed heavily as he glanced at Mary's body his stomach turning. Desmond had never meant for Oliver to find Mary alive. She'd been dead for at least two days. He shook his head and opened his mouth again to try and get Oliver to move away from the body, but before he could Chloe's frantic voice crackled to life in both their coms.  
  
"Arrow, Lantern get out of there now," she said as she watched the monitors next to her. "When you opened the box it triggered something." She told them while her fingers moved frantically against the keys. She gasped, her chest filling with fear. "It's a bomb, do you hear me? You have less than fifteen seconds to get out of the building before it blows." She said trying to stay calm, but not entirely able to. Neither of them were answering her. "Hello!"

Chloe’s voice barely registered in Oliver’s ear. He stayed where he was; he couldn’t take his eyes off Mary as guilt and shame tore through him. Oliver knew he should have realized something was wrong sooner. There had to have been other clues that he missed. Desmond had been killing people for months but this was the first time he had attacked someone close to Oliver. He’d wanted him to know. He’d wanted him to find him but he’d taken too long to realize something was wrong and now Mary was dead because of his inaction. Oliver felt Hal’s hand on his shoulder and he heard a mixture of Hal and Chloe’s voices, but the words weren’t getting through.

Hal shook his friend and gripped his arm tight attempting to pull him away from the crate. "Arrow we have to go," he said his heart speeding up as he pleaded with Oliver tugging on him again as Chloe's voice came through his com.  
  
"You're not going to make it," she said to Hal as fear clenched in her gut. You have seven seconds to get out of the building damn it get out! Now!" She shouted at the screen as her hands clenched on the desk, knuckles turning white from the grip she had on it. She couldn't imagine what Oliver was feeling at the moment, but she couldn't lose him. They needed to get out of there.  
  
Her eyes turned to her clock and she practically choked on her words as tears pooled in her eyes. "Hal..."  
  
He heard her desperate plea and he knew he had to do something. They could just stand there or they would die. Hal thought of Tess and swallowed heavily as he gripped Oliver tight creating a force field around them right as Chloe screamed in his ear and a bright light erupted directly in front of them.

The sound of Chloe screaming in his ear snapped Oliver out of his trance and he tried to respond to her, but everything around him erupted before he had a chance. Even through the force field Hal had created, Oliver could feel the heat of the blast surrounding them. He threw his hands up in front of his face to block the light and suddenly they were both thrown back as Hal’s force field disappeared. Oliver hit the ground hard but he managed to keep himself away from the flames that seemed to be all around them. Pieces of the roof had been blown off and the oxygen fueled the fire, creating thick smoke in every direction. He stayed low and tried to remember where the closest door had been. “Lantern!” he shouted as he crawled through the debris in search of an exit.

Hal grunted and rolled over onto his stomach coughing lightly. Normally his force fields worked to perfection, but they had been directly in front of the blast and when it knocked him back and he hit the ground he lost his concentration, causing the field to evaporate. He could hear Oliver calling him and he pushed himself to his knees as he pushed the com in his ear. "Watchtower, come on. I can't see much through the smoke, can you guide me to Arrow..." He paused when there was no answer. "Watcher..."  
  
Hal pulled the com from his ear and swore. The blast must have killed the connection. He swallowed hard letting out several more coughs as he pushed himself to his feet and created a ball of energy around himself creating a barrier between him and the smoke he moved forward shooting out balls of light to illuminate the building. He spotted Oliver and moved towards his friend just in time for a piece of ceiling to fall. Hal extended the force field making the ceiling bounce off before it ever hit Oliver. "We've gotta go, I've lost communication with Watchtower." He told him while pointing towards a side exit.

Oliver nodded and got to his feet now that he was under the protection of Hal’s force field. He’d heard a small pop in his ear that he assumed was his com device blowing. Large chunks of the ceiling continued to rain down around them as the flames engulfed everything in sight. His heart clenched when he realized the bomb had been in the crate with Mary. He forced himself to focus on getting outside.

He knew Chloe was probably scared and he needed to call her and tell her that they were both all right. They made it through the door and as they crossed the threshold, there was another explosion that sent them both flying through the air. Oliver hit the ground hard; narrowly avoiding slamming his face against the concrete. He heard Hal land a few feet away. Groaning, Oliver rolled onto his back and tried to sit up but he was overcome with a coughing fit.

The back of Hal's head slammed hard against the concrete and he didn't bother attempting to get up. His entire body hurt and he was pretty sure he couldn't make another force field if his life depended on it. He was completely tapped for energy. Hal grunted and shifted slightly to his side when he heard Oliver coughing. He took a deep breath and called out. "You in one piece over there?" He asked voice hoarse as he sucked in several breaths of fresh air.

“Ask again later,” Oliver replied. He managed to roll over onto his stomach again and got himself to his knees. His head hurt and his eyes burned from the smoke but he didn’t think anything was broken. He knew they needed to get out of there but he didn’t hear sirens yet so he figured they had a few minutes. He reached into his belt and pulled out his cell phone. He started coughing again, but he managed to press Chloe’s number on the speed dial and bring the phone to his ear.

Chloe stood there staring at the monitors as she watched the heat signature from the explosion start to fade. Her heart was slamming against her chest as she tried to catch her breath. Her face had paled after she screamed through the com before she heard a loud explosion and everything shorted out.  
  
Her chest was tight and she had tried several times to reestablish a connection to them but nothing had worked. What was she going to tell Tess? Fear surged inside of her as she tried to stay calm and focus, but she was pretty sure she was having some kind of panic attack. Chloe had just bent at the waist when the computer chirped and the robotic voice spoke.  
  
_"Incoming communication from Queen, Oliver."_  
  
Chloe was reaching forward before it even finished speaking. "Ollie?" she said as she held her breath and waited for an answer.

“I’m here, Chloe,” Oliver said. “Hal and I are banged up but we’re okay,” he told her quickly. Oliver knew she must have been scared and he wanted to reassure her as fast as possible that they were all right. His chest tightened when he thought about how the same thing couldn’t be said about Mary. The sound of sirens shook him from his thoughts and Oliver forced himself to get to his feet. He walked over to Hal and held out his free hand to help him up. “Chloe, I’ll be home as soon as I can.” He disconnected the call and turned his attention to Hal. “Go. There’s nothing else we can do here and we can’t risk the police finding us. I’ll call you tomorrow,” he said.

Hal let Oliver help him up and he brushed himself off ready to protest when he looked at his friends face. He swallowed hard. He could see that he was in no place to talk about what happened right now, but eventually they were going to have to. The sirens grew louder and Hal sighed. He pointed at Oliver. "If I don't hear from you by tomorrow afternoon Tess and I will be coming over," he said quietly as he shifted and winced. He hovered above the ground slightly and nodded in Oliver's direction. "Be careful," he said before slowly making his way into the sky and towards Coast City.

“You too,” Oliver said. He jogged toward his bike, noting there was stiffness in his side. He was probably sporting a massive bruise from one of the falls he had taken but he couldn’t worry about that now. He made sure his glasses and hood were in place and sped off toward the penthouse. To avoid the police and bystanders, Oliver had to stick to side streets and alleys and it took him nearly twenty extra minutes to get back. He parked the bike and moved toward the elevator; the stiffness in his side was getting worse but it had nothing on the ache in his chest every time the image of Mary’s lifeless body floated through his head.

The doors opened and Oliver walked into his equipment room, pushed back his hood and tossed his glasses aside. His breathing was ragged and he started coughing again, doubling over as he braced himself against the counter. He tried to take a deep breath but it was nearly impossible between the coughing and what felt like a knife stabbing him in the heart. Oliver let himself slump to the floor, his head dropping to his chest. He had failed Mary. She was gone and Desmond had gotten the best of him again.

Chloe could hear him coughing from the bathroom. She swallowed heavily and pulled herself together as she gripped the first aid kit tighter in her hand. She glanced at herself in the mirror and made sure there was no signs of the tears she hadn't been able to hold back after he'd hung up with her. She needed to be strong for him right now. Chloe knew what had happened with Mary, and she knew he was going to need her now more than ever even if he couldn't admit it.  
  
She took a deep breath and pushed herself away from the counter before moving out of the bathroom. Chloe walked through the bedroom and out into the hallway towards Oliver's equipment room. The panel was open and when she moved into the room the sight in front of her broke her heart. She continued into the room and carefully sat down in front of him.  
  
Chloe hesitated briefly before leaning forward, cupping his cheeks, and pressing a kiss to his head. She didn't say anything, but she continued to stroke his hair lightly knowing there was nothing she could say that would make this better for him. Her heart ached for the pain she knew he was feeling right now. Not able to stay silent anymore she spoke softly. "I'm so sorry Ollie," her voice was barely a whisper, but she knew he heard it.

“We were too late,” Oliver said needlessly. He could tell by the look on Chloe’s face that she knew exactly what had happened. He wanted to reach out to her, pull her into his arms and never let go but Oliver didn’t have the strength. All he could do was sit there and relive the moment over and over again where he had failed.

He still wasn’t sure what Desmond had been hoping to accomplish by killing Mary. Was it just a ruse to get Oliver on scene so he could kill him with a homemade bomb? That didn’t seem right to him; it wasn’t public enough for him. “He always wanted glory, Chloe. Where is the glory in this?” Oliver asked. He was tired and confused and his body was starting to ache but he knew he wouldn’t be able to sleep. Oliver wasn’t even sure he’d be able to get up. He had to find a way to make sense out of everything that had happened. Mary deserved justice.

“What am I supposed to tell her husband?” Oliver’s eyes met Chloe’s as his chest constricted once more. “The bomb was in the crate…there won’t be a body,” he said quietly. Oliver swallowed hard as the memory of Mary’s lifeless body haunted his mind.

Chloe felt her heart clench at his words and moved closer to him, pulling him into her arms. She wasn’t sure what else to do. She knew his guilt wouldn’t go away any time soon and even when they caught Desmond he’d still have to live with what happened tonight. She swallowed heavily and let out a light breath reminding herself to keep it together. She couldn’t make things worse for him. “This wasn’t about glory Oliver,” she told him quietly. “It was malicious. My guess is he was trying to get your attention.” She said quietly as she rubbed his back and arm urging him to come closer.

“He was trying to get your attention…and apparently this is the only way he knew how,” She whispered. “He’s a monster Ollie and I’m so, so sorry this happened. We’re going to find him and put him away for good. I know that doesn’t make up for what happened, but it’s something.” She said softly as she continued to move her hand against his back trying to comfort him.

Oliver didn’t say anything, but he wrapped his arms around her, holding her even closer and burying his face in her neck. He knew she was probably right and Desmond had done this because he hadn’t been paying enough attention. He’d ignored his earlier warnings and he’d hidden away instead of fighting back when Desmond had started painting Green Arrow as a murderer. So he’d taken Mary because she was close to Oliver and there was no way he could ignore her disappearance. The bomb had probably been a way to cover his tracks.

“We have to find him, Chloe,” Oliver muttered against her skin. He knew this wasn’t Desmond’s endgame by any means. He probably had something much bigger planned and Oliver knew his next move would be something he couldn’t ignore. Oliver tightened his arms around Chloe as he tried to figure out what they were supposed to do next. All he could think about was the last conversation he’d had with Mary. She’d stopped in his office on her way out and told him that she was leaving for the day and to call her if he needed anything. Now she was dead because she’d had the misfortune of being close to him. Oliver wasn’t going to let anyone else die because of him.

Chloe nodded as she pressed a kiss to his head. “We will, I promise you Oliver, I _will_ find him.” She told him, her voice soft but strong. “And then we’ll make sure he’s put away for a long time.” She said while continuing to run her hands up and down his back for a minute before letting out a small breath. “Come on,” She said lightly, “I need to make sure you’re okay.” She told him as she lifted his head from her neck and stood slowly before reaching out her hands to him to help him up.

Oliver held onto both of her hands as he got to his feet. He could see that she was worried about him and he tried to pull himself together, not wanting to upset her anymore than he already had. It wasn’t her fault he had screwed up again and someone else had paid the price for his mistake. “I need to get this off,” he said as he gestured to his gear. Reluctantly letting go of Chloe, Oliver stepped back and started to peel off his uniform.

He got his vest off and pulled the shirt he wore underneath over his head. He paused to look at his side and as he’d expected, there was already a large bruise there and his skin was caked with dried blood. “There must be glass in there from the explosion,” he muttered as he unhooked his utility belt and tossed it on the counter before stepping out of his boots and finally his pants. He didn’t bother putting everything in its place; that could wait until morning.

Chloe bent down and picked up the first aid kit before taking Oliver’s arm and leading him towards the master bathroom. Oliver spent most of his time taking care of her and now it was time for her to take care of him. She moved into the bathroom and pointed towards the toilet bowl. “Sit,” She said softly as she moved over to the shower and turned it on and giving the water some time to heat up. Chloe moved to the counter and opened the first aid kit. “Let’s take a look at that side,” She said quietly.

“It’s not that bad, Chloe,” Oliver protested automatically. But he sat down as she instructed and rubbed his hand over the back of his neck. “Maybe I should have stayed out there,” he said. Things had been better the last few nights because he’d been patrolling heavily but now he was second guessing his decision to come home. He didn’t want the city’s criminals to think that he was weak again.

Chloe shook her head as she kneeled down in front of him so she could get a better look at his side. He was right. There were a few small shards of glass in there. She pulled the tweezers out of the kit as she spoke. “I have Bart and Victor on patrol right now. You can’t be out there like this. You were in an explosion,” She said sternly. It took a few minutes to dig out all the little shards, but she was pretty sure she got them all.“You need to give your body some time to heal or you won’t be any good to anyone out there.” She told him softly.

Oliver nodded. Logically, he knew she was right and he was in no condition to patrol. He’d probably end up doing more harm than good and Oliver felt like he’d already done enough of that for a lifetime. He watched her as she worked on clearing the glass from his side; her touch was efficient but soft. Once again, he just wanted to scoop her into his arms and hold on for dear life but he knew he needed to be strong. He couldn’t fall apart again. He owed it to Mary and to all of Desmond’s other victims to see this through and that was exactly what he would do.  
      
“Thank you,” he told Chloe quietly as he reached out, tilting her face toward him so she was looking up into his eyes. “Thank you for everything you did tonight. And for this,” he said, motioning toward his side.

Chloe frowned. “Oliver, you don’t need to thank me, you know I’m here for you any time you need me.” She told him softly as she glanced back at his side and started cleaning it the wound with anticipant. The skin was tender and she wondered if he had any broken ribs. She doubted it though. He’d probably be in a lot more pain if he did.

She tiled her head as she skimmed her hand down his other side and over his abdomen checking for other injuries. Her hands moved over the sides of his boxers and down his legs noticing a few scrapes and bruises. “How does your side feel, I don’t see any more glass I think I got it all.” She said lightly while pushing herself off her knees as she held out a hand to him again.

“It’s tender but I’ve had much worse injuries,” Oliver replied truthfully. He took her hand as he stood up and stretched out his back, trying to get rid of the tension that had crept into all of his muscles. “Nothing is broken,” he assured her when she continued to watch him closely for any sign that he was in pain. “I’ll pop a few aspirin before bed and I’ll be fine in the morning.” He leaned down and brushed his lips softly over hers. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” She said before tugging him, gently towards the shower she had running. Steam was starting to gather in the room and she motioned behind her. “You can go to bed after you take a hot shower. It will relax the muscles and they won’t hurt as much in the morning,” She said softly as she ran a hand down his arm. “I’ll go get you some aspirin and water for when you get out. Do you need anything else?” She asked while meeting his eyes. She knew she couldn’t fix the guilt he was carrying, but the least she could do was try to fix some of the physical pain.

“That’s good for now,” Oliver said. He gave her another quick kiss. “Thank you,” he said again. He watched her leave and then he stripped off his boxers and stepped under the hot spray. He let it rain down over his head for a few moments before he turned and dropped his head to his chest so the water hit the back of his neck and shoulders. Oliver sighed as he felt some of the tightness easing from his muscles. But there wasn’t anything he could do about the ache in his chest.


	16. Chapter 16

Chloe groaned slightly and shifted in bed a slight chill going down her spine. She reached out for Oliver and her brows furrowed when her hand came in contact with cool sheets. Her eyes fluttered open and she sighed at the empty side of the bed next to her. Chloe’s eyes drifted towards the alarm clock on his side of the bed and she pursed her lips. It had been four days since Oliver and Hal found Mary in the boat store near the marina and two days since her funeral.

 

Chloe pushed the covers off her body and got out of bed. She didn’t bother grabbing her robe as she went in search of Oliver. Today was his first day back at work since Mary was killed and she knew even though he was handling things better than before, he was nowhere near okay. Mary had been someone he knew, someone he was close to since he was younger. A person who believed in the man he was and Chloe knew that Oliver blamed himself for her death.

 

She walked down the hallway and saw the light on in the office. Chloe made her way there and when she poked her head in the room, no one was there. She glanced over the computers briefly trying to see if there were any alerts. But yet again nothing was there. Chloe sighed, pushed away from the door frame and headed back down the hallway. She had tried everything she could think of to find Desmond, but so far nothing was working. It was infuriating.

 

Chloe paused near the living room and saw the balcony door open. She should have known that’s where he was. Oliver tended to make his way outside whenever he was trying to think or gain a little perspective. She walked through the living room and out the door catching sight of him dressed, arms on the railing. She ran her hands over her bare arms as she stood behind him her chest tight. “Hey,” She said softly. “You’re up early.”

 

Oliver turned at the sound of her voice and offered her a small smile. “Hey Sidekick,” he said as he held out his hand to her. The truth was that he had hardly slept at all from the time he’d gotten back from patrol to the time he’d given up on pretending to sleep and got up and ready for the day. He’d thought about just going into the office and getting some work done but he wasn’t sure he was ready for that yet. He wasn’t sure he was ready for any of this.  
    

Mary’s funeral had been hard. Oliver had sat between Chloe and Hal and watched as Mary’s husband broke down as he gave her eulogy. It was eerily reminiscent of the moment at Nicholas Spencer’s funeral when his wife had done the same thing. It wasn’t like Oliver could blame either one of them.

 

The most important person in their lives had suddenly been gone and there was no explanation that made any sense, especially in Mary’s case. Chloe had planted an anonymous tip with the police and that was the only reason they had discovered pieces of her remains amongst the debris in the warehouse. Oliver’s stomach turned at the thought.  
    

Her husband had been justifiably confused as to how his wife had ended up in a boat supply warehouse or why it had been blown up with her inside. The police didn’t have any leads and unfortunately neither did the team. Oliver knew Chloe was doing everything she could and Victor and the others were stepping up to help him with patrols but they weren’t finding any trace of Desmond. It was like he had vanished into thin air. Oliver knew they weren’t that lucky and the psycho was just waiting for the opportunity to make his next move.

 

Chloe took his hand and moved to his side pressing her body against his as she rubbed his arm lightly. She pressed a kiss to his arm as she gazed out over the city a small sigh escaping her throat. She wished she knew what was going through his head. By the expression on his face she was pretty sure he was thinking about Mary again, not that she blamed him. Chloe leaned into him before glancing up. “How are you holding up Hero?” She asked the question lightly even though she was pretty sure she already knew the answer.

 

“I don’t know,” Oliver replied honestly. He wrapped his arms around her waist, keeping her close to him as he met her gaze. He wasn’t going to lie and tell her that he was fine when they both knew he wasn’t. “There’s a part of me that doesn’t want to go into the office because everything will be final. Does that make sense?” he asked. The funeral had been final but Oliver knew it would just hit him all over again when he walked in and saw Mary’s empty seat. His chest tightened and he wondered if it would ever get easier to think of her and not feel so ashamed of himself.   
    

“I feel like I should have done more for her,” he said as his gaze shifted from Chloe to the city. Mary had always been there for him even when he’d gone through his dark phases. She never gave up on him and she never walked away. “She deserved better,” Oliver told Chloe softly.

 

“I know you do.” She said softly as she rubbed her hand along his back. She knew telling him this wasn’t his fault wouldn’t help. She knew how long Mary had worked for him and whether or not this was his fault he was going to feel her loss and wish he’d done more for her. That’s just the type of person Oliver was. She rested her head against his shoulder, placing another kiss there.

 

“If you need some help at the office I could come in with you,” She told him quietly not sure if that was something he wanted her to do. She knew he was going to have to replace Mary eventually, but now was not the time for that.

 

Oliver shook his head. “I appreciate that, Chloe but I know you’d rather stick with Watchtower duties and that’s more important at the moment anyway,” he said. “Stella has been helping me out and things have been slow at the office.” Oliver was grateful for that. He knew he’d have to find a new assistant eventually but he couldn’t worry about that until they put Desmond behind bars where he belonged. Oliver needed Chloe to concentrate on finding him and he knew she wouldn’t be able to do that if she was stuck in the office dealing with contracts and phone calls.  
      
“It’ll get easier after awhile,” he told her quietly as he pressed a kiss to the top of her head. If there was one thing Oliver was familiar with, it was loss. He knew things would never be the same but eventually the pain would just be a dull ache instead of the gut-wrenching despair he felt at the moment.

 

Chloe swallowed hard her chest tightening as her heart ached for him. “It shouldn’t have to get easier Ollie. I hate that this is happening,” She told him softly. Oliver did so much good for the world and she hated seeing how much he suffered especially these last few months. “I’m sorry,” She said while shaking her head and placing a palm on his chest. “Are you hungry? I can probably make some eggs or toast,” She said softly as she continued studying his face.

 

He wasn’t hungry at all but Oliver could see that Chloe wanted to do something and he was really dreading going into the office. “That sounds great, Sidekick. Thank you.” Oliver kissed her softly as he brushed his hand over her cheek. He didn’t know what he would have done without her the past few days. Chloe had been a rock for him and he hadn’t had the urge to drink once despite the constant guilt that was churning in his system. There was still a small part of him that felt like he had no right to have any kind of happiness, but Oliver was doing his best to suppress it.   
    

“Chloe, I love you,” Oliver said. His brow furrowed as he was taken aback by the seriousness in his own voice. But he wanted Chloe to know how important she was to him. “There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for you.” He caressed her cheek again as his eyes met hers.

 

Her brows furrowed slightly in confusion, but she nodded and leaned up placing a soft kiss on his lips. “I love you too, Ollie…always.” She whispered before threading their fingers together and tugged him towards the balcony door as she tried to lighten the mood. “Now come on, let me feed my favorite boyfriend,” She said with a small smile.

 

______

 

Tess stared at her reflection in the bathroom mirror, focusing on the circles under her eyes. She’d tried to cover them with makeup but she was starting to think they were going to be a permanent part of her face. She needed to get more sleep at night but she didn’t see that happening any time soon.

 

She sighed, decided it was going to have to do and made her way down the hall to the kitchen. She poured herself her third cup of coffee for the morning and noted that it was nearly eight. She wanted to try and make it to the office before Oliver got there in case he needed anything from her but she kept finding excuses not to leave the apartment.  
    

She took her coffee to the kitchen table and sat down, closing her eyes for a moment as the stress of the past few days washed over her. Hal had been a mess when he’d come home after the warehouse explosion. He’d been worried about Oliver, worried about her and both of them had grieved for Mary. None of this was fair and Tess couldn’t wait until Desmond slipped up and they made him pay.

 

As grateful as she was that Oliver no longer had his death on his conscience, Tess couldn’t help thinking they would all be better off if Desmond was six feet under and couldn’t hurt anyone ever again. Of course she had no intention of sharing that thought with anyone.  
    

Her phone buzzed with a new email and Tess let her mind drift to the work that needed to get done that day. Things had been slow the past few days and Tess had a feeling it was because people wanted to pay their respects to Mary by keeping a low profile and not burdening Oliver anymore than he already was.

 

Stella had been doing double duty and Tess planned to give her a huge raise when all of this was over. She didn’t think Oliver would object. Tess had just finished replying to the email when she heard footsteps in the hall. She turned in her seat as Hal made his way into the room.  
    

“Morning,” she called lightly.

 

Hal nodded in her direction before pausing near her, leaning down and pressing a light kiss to her lips. “Morning,” He said quietly before straightening up and heading towards the refrigerator. He still couldn’t seem to wrap his head around the fact that Mary was gone though he was glad that Oliver seemed t be handling things better than he thought he would. He was far from okay, but he hadn’t spiraled out of control and that was a good thing.

 

He grabbed the orange juice and poured himself a glass before sitting down across from his fiancé at the table. He gave her half a smile before reaching forward and puling her hand to his lips. “Did you get any sleep at all last night?” He asked already knowing the answer, but hoping he was wrong.

 

Tess started to lie and thought better of it. “Not really,” she admitted. Tess hated seeing the familiar worry in his eyes but she knew there was no point in trying to act like everything was fine. Besides, she doubted he had gotten much more sleep than she had. Tess brought her free hand to his cheek, gently caressing it as she met his gaze. “Are you going into work today?” she asked.  
    

Hal had taken leave for the funeral and before that he’d been working less so he could keep an eye on her. Tess knew he was still worried but she thought it would be good for all of them to get back to some semblance of their normal routines. Desmond wanted to disrupt their lives and make sure they were constantly looking over their shoulders and she didn’t want to give him that kind of satisfaction.

 

Hal turned his head and kissed her palm before nodding. “Yeah, I’ll be home early though.” He said the words lightly. He didn’t want to leave her alone, but he was afraid if he didn’t get in the air soon and burn some of the tension in his body off he was going to explode and that wouldn’t be good for anyone. Everyone had their own ways of unwinding and he needed this. Plus he knew Tess needed to go to the office and keep an eye on Oliver because even though he seemed okay, Hal knew he wasn’t.

 

Tess arched an eyebrow. She didn’t want him getting in trouble at work for cutting out early because he was worried that she needed a babysitter. “Hal, I’m having dinner with Chloe tonight,” she reminded him. Despite the terrible timing, they had an appointment at the boutique for Tess to have her first dress fitting and to look at bridesmaid dresses for Chloe and Maria. Tess had wanted to cancel but the seamstress warned her that it would be hard to get another appointment so Tess had reluctantly agreed. “There’s no reason for you to rush home if I’m not going to be here,” she pointed out gently.

 

Hal frowned. "Oh, I forgot about that," he said lightly. With everything that had been going on lately he had forgotten that they were doing that. He gave her a small shrug. "It's fine. If you're going out with Chloe I'll keep Oliver company so he isn't alone." He said thinking that was probably a good idea. "Maybe I'll take him to grab dinner." He said with a small smile.

 

“That’s a good idea,” Tess said. She hadn’t seen Oliver since the funeral but Chloe told her that he was doing okay but he was nowhere near fine. “I think it’s best if we all go about our lives. Desmond obviously has a plan and if Chloe and Victor can’t find him before he decides to surface again, there’s no reason we all need to cower in fear.” She leaned over and pressed a kiss to Hal’s lips. “Once this is over, I don’t want to see this look on your face anymore,” she said. Tess felt like they’d been in a constant cycle of fear and they needed to a break.

 

“I’ve been thinking about our honeymoon,” she said as she ran her hand over his bare chest. “How would you feel about an early pre-wedding vacation?” Tess figured they had earned one after all the hell they’d been through lately. Once they caught Desmond, she wanted to spend some quality time alone with her husband to be.

 

Hal arched an eyebrow, a smirk pulling at his lips as he caught her wrist in his hand and brought it to his lips, placing light kisses on every finger. “I think we definitely deserve a little vacation time. You, me…a deserted island,” He said letting his voice trail off. “I’m liking this idea already,” He told her as he ran his fingers up and down her arm. He missed spending time with her, just to spend time with her and not because was terrified something bad was going to happen.

 

He couldn’t wait until they found Desmond and put his psychotic ass behind bars. Then life could finally get back to normal. “So soon to be wife, where exactly are you and Chloe going and when will you be back?” He asked with a smile. “This way I know when to bail on Oliver and maybe we can spend a little time together before patrol.” He said with a wink while leaning closer to her.

 

“Let’s rethink the deserted island part,” Tess said gently. She was all for going somewhere secluded, but she preferred it be land based. Islands brought up bad memories to begin with and after everything Desmond had put them through, she didn’t want to even think about going somewhere that would require them to get on a boat. At this point, she didn’t even like seeing boats in the water when she drove up the coast to get to work.

 

“But I do enjoy the soon-to-be-wife part.” Tess slid out of her chair and settled onto his lap, wrapping her arms loosely around his neck as her fingertips teased the ends of his hair. “Chloe and I are supposed to meet at the boutique at six. It’s that one in the center of the city near Queen Industries. After that, we’ll probably have dinner at the Italian place so I’ll be home around nine,” she said.

 

Hal winced and nodded. "You're right I'm sorry," he said lightly before giving her a once over and smirking. "Anywhere where we can be alone and uninturrupted is good by me," he said before pressing a kiss against her shoulder. He rested his hand on her thigh and cocked his head to the side. "Those sound like nice plans, I'm sure you two will have a good time." He said even as a hint of anxiety curled in his stomach at knowing the two of them would be alone and out and about where Desmond could easily get to them, just like he had with Mary. The thought made his chest tight.

 

Tess recognized the look in his eyes and cupped his face in her hands. “Hal, we’re going to be fine. The boutique and the restaurant are public places and we both have our guard up. I know you’re scared but it’s not healthy to worry this much. Besides, if you spend all your time worrying about me, you might miss something,” she pointed out. Tess knew he’d been cutting patrols short or skipping them altogether because he didn’t want her to be alone. Tess appreciated his concern but she could handle herself.

 

Hal sighed. He knew she was right and he couldn't keep hovering around her twenty-four seven. He nodded and ran a hand down her back. "You're right. I'm sorry." He said lightly as he brushed his lips against hers. When he pulled back he gave her half a smile before glancing at the clock and groaning. "I need to get in the shower or I'm going to be late..." He arched an eyebrow. "Any chance you might want to come with me?" He asked lightly while sliding his hand over her thigh.

 

“You do realize that I already took a shower and I’m dressed and ready for work, right?” Tess asked as she gestured to her the skirt he was currently sliding his hand under. But she found herself enjoying his touch and she bit down on her lip as she glanced at the clock on her phone. She knew there was no way that she was going to make it to the office before Oliver and if she left now, she’d just get stuck in morning traffic. She tightened her arms around Hal’s neck as she raised ne eyebrow. “Convince me,” she said in a low voice.

 

Hal grinned. He knew she was already ready, but he didn't really care. He shifted his legs and slid his hand up and under her skirt as his head dipped to her neck. He opened his mouth and sucked hard on her skin as his fingers grazed against the front of her panties. He spoke, breath hot against her skin. "I need to convince you?" He asked in a mock hurt voice.

 

Tess bit back a moan, her head automatically lolling to the side to give him better access as she shifted on his lap, trying to get close to his hand.”Haven’t you ever heard the saying that nothing worth having is easy?” she asked as she trailed her fingers over his chest and down to his abs, slowly tracing each indentation with her fingertips. Tess smirked when she felt his muscles clenching beneath her hand. She leaned forward, pressing her herself tighter against him. “I want you to make me scream,” she whispered in his ear before she licked the outer shell.

 

Hal moaned and hardened at her words. He nipped at her neck, a smirk sliding onto his lips. "But I've already got you," he whispered against her skin as he slipped his fiNger under her panties tracing her slit. Hal's grin widened at her gasp. His lips left a trail of kisses down her collar bone as he slipped a finger inside of her groaning at the heat that surrounded him.  
  
Hal thrust his finger in and out of her body and right as he was about to add another finger his cell phone went off, sounding loud and vibrating on the table in front of them.

 

“Someone has really bad timing,” Tess grumbled. She moved off his lap and straightened her clothes, attempting to ignore the fact that her entire body was flushed with arousal. She was starting to think a cold shower might be a better idea. She moved back into the kitchen, opened the refrigerator and grabbed a bottle of water. Tess drank half of it in one gulp and it did absolutely nothing to cool her down.

 

Hal frowned, blinking as he glanced at his phone and then Tess. He pointed at her. "Do *not* go anywhere." He said before lifting his phone to his ear and answering it. He rolled his eyes and made his hand talk while making a face. He nodded and grunted out a few answers before ending the call. He sighed and glanced at Tess.  
  
"That was Carl, there was a small crash at Ferris they need me to come in." He said while standing. "I still need to shower though," he told her letting his voice trail off and he arched an eyebrow and motioned towards the bedroom as he held out a hand to her. "Come on Red...Have a little fun."

 

Tess set her water down on the counter. Hal obviously needed to get to work and she should leave too. She opened her mouth and immediately closed it. Hal was telling her to have a little fun and the truth was Tess knew they could both use it. Work wasn’t going anywhere. She smiled at him and moved forward, sliding her hand into his. “Lead the way,” she said.

 

Hal gave her a warm smile as he tugged her to his side. "That's my girl," he said while sliding one hand down her back and over her ass as he lead her to their bedroom.

 

______

 

It was nearly six o’clock when Oliver walked back into the penthouse after what had turned out to be a painful day at the office. Things were still quiet as far as the actual work went, but all day long people had come into his office to tell him how sorry they were about Mary. Oliver appreciated the sentiment and it was nice to see that everyone loved Mary as much as he had but after awhile the guilt that had been slowly gnawing away at him had been too much to take.

 

He’d gone into Tess’s office, sat down on her couch and spent the rest of the afternoon working from his phone and his laptop just to avoid people. He felt like a coward, but aside from the initial look she’d given him when he’d come in, Tess hadn’t said a word to him and Oliver had been extremely grateful to her for that.

 

He’d gone back to his office around five when most of the staff had cleared out for the day and worked for another half hour. Tess popped her head in and told him that she was leaving to meet Chloe and reminded him that he was supposed to have dinner with Hal. Oliver had forgotten about their plans and left a message for Hal to meet him at the penthouse instead of the restaurant.

 

Oliver needed to spend a few hours decompressing from the general public before it was time to patrol for the night. Hal had responded with a text telling him he’d be there at six and dinner was on him. Oliver had gotten distracted again and ended up rushing home so Hal didn’t think he’d forgotten him twice in one day. Oliver really didn’t want Hal worrying about him more than he already was.

 

Oliver loosened his tie as he walked down the hall to the office to check Chloe’s computer. All the regular searches were running and he didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. He checked the police scanner and it didn’t seem like there was too much going on. At least something was going his way for a change. He started to head to the bedroom to change when he heard the elevator doors opening. “Hal?” he called. Oliver figured it was too early for Chloe to be back.

 

Hal stepped out of the elevator slipping his phone into his pocket while holding a plastic bag with dinner in his other hand. "Yeah man, it's me. I got Chinese." He said as he moved into the hallway and headed for the kitchen. He had been texting Tess for the past half hour and she had just gotten to the place she was meeting Chloe about ten minutes ago. He smiled as he thought about his fiancé. He'd had an amazing time with her this morning, Hal just wished they had more time to do things together than they actually had.  
  
He just hoped they'd find Desmond soon so things could get back to normal. "How was your day?" He called out as he started taking the cartons out of the bag and placing them on the island while waiting for Oliver.

 

“It was long,” Oliver said. He decided not to bother with changing and made his way toward the kitchen. “Thanks for getting dinner,” he said as he went to the cabinet and pulled out plates and utensils. He set them on the table and went to the refrigerator and grabbed two cans of pop since neither of them needed to drink before they went out on patrol. “How was your day? Tess mentioned that there was an accident this morning at the airfield,” he said as he took a seat.

 

Oliver reached for one of the cartons of rice as he waited for Hal to get situated. His stomach rumbled, reminding him that he hadn’t bothered to eat anything all day. Oliver knew he needed to start taking better care of his body or he wasn’t going to be any good to anyone. Not that Chinese food and pop counted as a balanced meal but Oliver figured it was better than nothing. He passed Hal the rice. “It must have felt good not to be the one responsible for the crash for a change,” he teased.

 

Hal smirked and took the can of soda from his friend while shaking his head. “Cute, Queen.” He shrugged as he put some rice and chicken on his plate. “At least when I crash things there’s always a reason. It’s usually because I’m showing them how much better I am then their stupid computerized planes. But this guy, he’s just an idiot and he crashed _my_ plane.” He said with a frown as he glanced up at Oliver.

 

“I asked Carl, what the hell was he doing in my plane to begin with and I get the whole ‘pilots don’t have specified planes’ speech. Blah blah blah, but everyone knows that’s my plane.” He told him while pointing the fork in his direction before pulling a fork full of rice and chicken into his mouth. “He’s lucky I didn’t hit him. Thankfully all that anger management is paying off,” He joked as he grinned in Oliver’s direction.

 

He could see his friend’s attention wasn’t exactly all there and his chest tightened at the look in his eyes. He knew Oliver couldn’t be expected to get over what happened with Mary one, two, three, but he hated seeing his friend suffer and wished there was something he could do.

 

“That sucks, man,” Oliver said. He knew how territorial Hal was about his plane and he couldn’t blame him for being angry. “But I’m proud of you for handling the situation maturely,” he teased as he took a bite of his egg roll. He chewed his food and reached for his drink. “You can stop looking at me like you’re going to have to scrape me off the floor anytime now. I appreciate the concern, but I’m fine,” he told him.  
    

Oliver knew “fine” probably wasn’t the best word but it was going to have to do. He knew Tess had suggested the two of them have dinner so he wouldn’t be alone while Chloe was gone but he really didn’t need a babysitter. He didn’t mind Hal’s company but he wanted his friend to stop handling him with kid gloves.

 

Hal rolled his eyes. “I know that. You’re too smart to make the same mistake twice in the span of a few months. Even you’re not that stupid,” He joked with a grin. “I’m just worried that’s all. I know that Mary being gone hurts…and you’re my best friend. I just wish there was something I could do,” He said with a shrug, “That’s all.” He knew Oliver hated being treated like some kind of child, hell most people did. But that wasn’t what he was trying to do. He just wanted to show his friend he was there id he needed him.

 

“Thanks,” Oliver said. He focused on eating for a few minutes and tried not to let his emotions overwhelm him. The only thing any of them could do now was find Desmond and stop him from hurting anyone else. He was about to ask Hal which areas he wanted to patrol that night when a buzzing noise broke through the silence of the apartment, indicating someone was in the elevator. “That’s strange. I wasn’t expecting anyone other than you,” he said.  
    

Oliver pushed his chair back from the table and headed into the living room to check the security feed. He saw Andrew in the elevator with a small box in his hands. Oliver swallowed hard and pushed the button to allow him access. The doors slid open and Andrew greeted him with a smile. Before Oliver could say anything, his phone rang.   
    

“Mr. Queen, I’m sorry to bother you, but this was delivered for you,” Andrew said. He held out the package to Oliver.  
    

“Thanks,” Oliver muttered. His throat was tight as he accepted the package with one hand and reached for his phone with the other. Oliver suddenly felt like everything was happening in slow motion. His heartbeat echoed in his ears as he glanced at the screen and saw Tess’s name on the caller ID. His eyes moved back to the package and his chest tightened as he brought the phone to his ear. “Hello?”  
    

“Oliver, is Chloe there?” Tess asked. Her hand was shaking as she held the phone to her ear. She’d waited for nearly twenty minutes and then she’d started calling and texting Chloe and she hadn’t answered. Tess had considered calling Hal, but she knew Oliver would want to know right away that something was wrong.   
    

“No,” Oliver said. His eyes fell to the package in his hands again. He heard Hal moving into the room and Tess was still talking, but he was frozen.

 

Hal frowned when he saw Oliver standing in the middle of the hallway; box in one hand, phone in the other. He tilted his head as he came stopped at his friend’s side. “What’s going on? Who was at the door?” He asked before pointing to the phone. “And who exactly though they were special enough to interrupt out bonding time?” He teased, but when Oliver’s face stayed the same Hal’s brows creased. “Oliver what is it?” He asked quietly as his eyes drifted to the box, anxiety creeping up in his stomach as he studied his friend closely.

 

Oliver didn’t answer him; he couldn’t. He handed Hal his phone and pulled open the box that was in his hands. Once again, he found himself looking at a ceramic boat. This one was similar to the original boat but there was no name painted on the side. Oliver pulled it out of the box and his heart stopped when he saw the familiar green bracelet nestled underneath it. “No.”

 

He shook his head frantically as the box and the boat dropped from his hand so all that remained was Chloe’s bracelet. It was the one he had bought for her at the jewelry store when Hal had picked up Tess’s engagement ring. Chloe hadn’t taken it off once since he’d given it to her the day they moved to Star City.

 

Hal swallowed heavily the sound of the ceramic shattering echoing through the apartment. He saw the bracelet hit the floor and he gripped his friends shoulder tightly. He remembered the day Oliver had bought it for Chloe. He shook himself out of his stupor and spoke into the phone, not entirely sure who was on the other line. “Hello?” He said his voice slightly shaken as Oliver continued to frantically move his head.

 

“Hal?” Tess said; her voice laced with confusion. She’d been calling Oliver’s name when she realized that he wasn’t paying attention to her and then she’d heard him say “no” but she had no idea what was happening. “Hal, Chloe never showed up to meet me.” She tucked the phone between her shoulder and her ear as she gripped the steering wheel with both hands to make a sharp left turn. She’d gotten in her car the second Oliver had answered the phone and she was already halfway to the penthouse.

 

Hal pursed his lips as he ran a hand over his face and glanced at his friend briefly before turning his body and looking away. “That’s because Desmond has her,” He told Tess softly as his eyes drifted towards the ground where her bracelet still lay untouched. “Are you alright?” He asked as he ran a frustrated hand through his hair.

 

“I’m fine,” Tess assured him. She had tried not to panic, but she’d feared the worst the second Chloe didn’t pick up her phone. “I’m on my way. I should be there in about five minutes. I’ll stay on the phone,” she added. Tess knew Hal wouldn’t want her to disconnect the call until she was standing in front of him and the truth was that she felt better knowing he was on the other end of the line. She swallowed hard; wanting to ask how Oliver was doing but she already knew the answer so she said nothing and concentrated on driving.  
   

Oliver could feel Hal’s hand on his shoulder and he heard him talking to Tess, but he couldn’t stop staring at Chloe’s bracelet. Desmond had Chloe. His plan all along had been to destroy Oliver and somewhere along the way he’d figured out the way to do it. Oliver took Chloe’s bracelet, holding it tightly in his hand as he struggled to breathe. He was going to find her and she was going to be okay. There was no other option.


	17. Chapter 17

Chloe groaned and shifted, wincing as a sharp pain tore through her body. She paused in her movements, took a deep breath, and pried her eyes open. Confusion filled her as she glanced around the room. It looked like she was in some kind of living room, but the lighting was dim and she couldn’t really tell from the angle she was laying.  When she tried to move her hands she could feel the zip tie digging into her skin and she let out a sigh. How did she always get herself into these kinds of messes? Chloe pursed her lips wondering how long she’d been out for.

She remembered leaving the penthouse to meet Tess and when she made her way into the underground parking garage, right as she was reaching out for the car handle she was attacked from behind. Chloe had immediately put up a fight and she even almost got away, but Desmond was quick. She remembered him slapping her before injecting her with something that knocked her out. Since she was still alive and feeling fine aside from being sore and bruised she assumed it was a sedative.

Chloe shifted pulling her knees up to help balance her body so she could sit up. Once she was right side up she glanced around furrowing her brows. There was a wet bar in the corner of the room and she was on a white circular couch that sat in the middle of the room. She set her feet on the ground and glanced down at her body. Her skirt was torn almost up to her thigh on one side, her shirt was torn a several places, and she could practically feel the bruise forming on her cheek if it wasn’t already there.

Chloe was terrified. Not for herself, but for Oliver. With everything that had happened with Mary she could only imagine what he was going through right now. She wasn’t sure what time it was and there weren’t any windows, but by now, he had to know she was missing and he was probably freaking out. Her heart clenched and anger built in her chest. She had no idea who this Desmond bastard thought he was, but she was going to get out of here and get back to Oliver. She had to. The only reason for him to take her was to draw Oliver out and there was no way she was going to let him walk into a trap for her.

Chloe shifted again and stood on shaky legs trying to figure out why he was stupid enough to give her so much mobility, but she wasn’t going to complain. Her arms were killing her and she looked around for something that might be able to help her get the zip ties off.  She moved slowly around the room her eyes catching sight of what looked like a desk. She moved over as quickly as possible even though her body protested. Chloe moved around to the drawer and turned her back towards it so she could use her hand to try and open it.

Her heart beat erratically in her chest as she yanked at the drawer. She lost her grip on the handle making her arm jerk and knock something off the desk. It crashed to the floor and she froze. Chloe closed her eyes and when she heard a noise they popped open as she glanced frantically around the room looking for somewhere to hide or go, but there was nothing. She straightened up and swallowed the lump in her throat. She wouldn’t give this guy the satisfaction of appearing anything other than annoyed.

“I was beginning to think you were going to sleep through all the fun. Did you have a pleasant nap?” Desmond smiled at Chloe as he made his way down the small staircase from the upper deck. He wore a neatly pressed dark suit and a red silk tie and in his hand he held a silver revolver. He lifted it so the gun was aimed directly at Chloe’s chest and motioned for her to move away from the desk and take a seat on the couch once again.

“I have to say aside from these nasty scratches you put on my cheeks, abducting you was even easier than I imagined. You would think someone like Oliver Queen would have better security in his parking garage.” Desmond shook his head like the entire thing was tragic as he moved further into the room, heading for the wet bar. “Would you like a drink while we wait?” he asked. His gun was still trained on Chloe as he skimmed over the selection of alcohol.

Chloe ignored his words and moved towards the couch as she reevaluated the situation. She arched an eyebrow at him. “Well of course it was easy for you; you were too much of a girl to fight fair. What’s the matter Desmond, were you afraid I might hurt you if you actually kept me lucid?” She mocked as she lowered herself to the couch.

“You do realize what you’ve done right?” She asked sitting up straight not a hint of fear in her eyes even though her heart was beating so hard against her chest she was afraid it might actually burst. “He’s not going to fall for whatever it is you’re planning, so you’re wasting your time.” She said matter of factly.

Desmond laughed. “We both know that’s not true. Oliver or Green Arrow,” he paused and gave Chloe a pointed look. “…will come riding to your rescue. You’re his whole world. It’s touching, or it would be if it wasn’t such a disgusting display of weakness.” He poured himself a glass of whiskey but he set it on the table instead of taking a sip as he watched Chloe. “Oliver has all the resources to be a great man but he’s a fool. He lets opportunities pass him by and he listens to people he shouldn’t. Like those dreadful employees who used to be part of my department,” Desmond said.

He rolled his eyes dramatically and this time he did lift the glass to his lips. “These idiots didn’t know a visionary when it was literally staring them in the face. Instead they let fear control them and they went running to Oliver and filled his head with lies about me. I’m a chemical genius, Chloe.” He offered her another slow smile. “I assume I can call you Chloe since we’re getting to know one another,” he said. “My experiments proved just what I could do and Queen Industries could have been at the forefront of that but Oliver was too weak to see it. I thought it was that mouthy redhead that kept him distracted but apparently she has her own man in green. What is it with you women and your costumed heroes?” He rolled his eyes again.

She studied him closely and pursed her lips. “The costumes a turn on,” She said sarcastically before crossing her legs, arms still behind her back. “So what, Mr. Chemical genius, you’ve been holding a grudge for the past three years?” She asked amusement dancing in her eyes. “Well someone obviously doesn’t have a life.” She said with a smirk.

“Tell me, if you’re such a genius why the games…why all the killing? What’s the point?” Chloe shifted and winced again. Her body hurt and her cheek was throbbing and she had no clue where she was. Her eyes took in the room around her once again as she waited for his answers.

“If it was up to your beloved Oliver, I wouldn’t have a life at all. He left me to die in the water. What kind of hero does that, Chloe?” Desmond watched her for a moment as he sipped his drink. “This isn’t a game and it’s not about revenge. I’m going to be unstoppable. Every country in the world is going to be fighting for a chance to work with me because they will know that my methods will win wars. Oliver should have known that. But he was stupid and now he needs to pay.” He finished his drink, set the glass down and moved toward the couch.

“The killings were a necessary evil, I’m afraid. I needed to show the world that Green Arrow snapped and that he wasn’t the noble hero he pretended to be. Instead, he’s a ruthless killer. In fact, he left me to die all those years ago just so he could steal the formula for my chemicals and claim it as his own. That’s why he started killing those poor family members. He couldn’t take the chance that they might remember it was actually me who created it. But I will be telling the world all about this after I heroically stop Green Arrow once and for all. It’s a shame his pretty girlfriend will be caught in the crossfire, but these things happen.” Desmond shrugged and gave her a sad smile.

Chloe blinked and even as her stomach filled with anxiety she forced a laugh out of her throat and shook her head. “Wow, you really believe your own hype don’t you?” She asked while letting out another chuckle. “Green Arrow is a hero and no offense, but if it was me that night I would have left your crazy ass drowning in that water too.” She said while shifting away from him. “I mean look at you, you’re completely delusional.” She told him before arching an eyebrow in his direction.

“How about I tell you how this is actually going to go down, instead of your discombobulated version of reality. Green Arrow will find me; you will go to jail, and the rest of the world will live happily ever after never knowing about the psycho who tried to make Star City his bitch.” She said before meeting his eyes. Chloe needed to keep him talking, get him mad so maybe he’d tell her more about what he was planning. Anything she could use to help Oliver because there was no was she was letting Desmond hurt him.

Desmond laughed. “That’s a lovely fantasy you’ve created for yourself where the hero rescues the girl and everyone lives happily ever after. But the problem is that it’s a _fantasy_ ,” he stressed. “I have no doubt Oliver slash Green Arrow will come waltzing in here. I’m counting on it. See unlike your ridiculous boyfriend, I learn from my mistakes.” He sat down on the end of the couch, gun still in hand and pointed at Chloe.

“When I kidnapped Tess a few years ago, I made the mistake of poisoning her before Oliver got here so she was all weak and disoriented. But you…you’re wide awake so you’ll be able to cry and scream and let Oliver know just how much it hurts as the poison enters your system. Watching you die a slow, agonizing death might teach that smug bastard a lesson once and for all. Not that it will save him.”

Chloe swallowed hard as she glared in his direction and leaned forward slightly. “You obviously haven’t done your research.” She said slowly. “I don’t need a hero to save me and even if what you’re saying is true, you don’t honestly think I would lead Oliver into a trap do you?” She asked as her eyebrow rose, “You’re crazy. A certifiable lunatic and I’m going to enjoy watching you get your ass handed to you.” She told him a smile on her face, but her voice was hard.

Her chest was tight at his plan knowing that if she died, Oliver would never forgive himself even though this wasn’t his fault it was hers. She had been careless when she left the apartment. She knew Desmond was out there, but she hadn’t bothered to take any precautions. She needed to find a way to warn him.

“I’ve done plenty of research,” Desmond told her. “I know all about your little team and the fact that you can’t seem to help getting into trouble. But there’s nowhere for you to go, Chloe and while I have no intention of killing you before Oliver gets here, I also don’t have a problem putting a bullet in you.” He pointed the gun to her kneecap. “You’re going to be in plenty of pain later but if you’d like a shattered kneecap in the meantime, just say the word.” He gave her a cold smile and moved toward the stairs again.

“Story time is over. I will be back in a little while when it’s time for stage two of the plan. I think you’ll enjoy that part. You’ll get to have one last phone call with Oliver before I inject the poison into your system. You should think carefully about what you want to say to him. I’ll be back soon, Chloe.” Desmond disappeared up the stairs, closing and locking the door behind him.

Chloe stared at the closed door tears pooling in her eyes at the thought of not seeing Oliver again. She looked away and let out a long shaky breath. She really needed to learn when to not push her luck. It took her a minute to pull herself together before she stood again, slightly unbalanced and moved back towards the desk. Just because she was stuck wherever she was didn’t mean she couldn’t attempt to find something that might help them later…and keep herself from giving into the hint of fear that was slowly blooming in her stomach.

______

 

Tess sat behind the desk in Chloe’s office, her fingers flying over the keys as she pulled up security camera footage throughout the city. Once they had confirmed that Chloe’s car was still in the parking garage, it hadn’t taken long for her to pull up the footage from earlier when Desmond had grabbed her.

She’d tried to stop Oliver from watching it, but he’d ignored her and stood there holding his breath as he watched Chloe try to fight off Desmond only for him to slap her and then jam a needle into her skin. They had no idea what he’d injected her with but they did know he placed her in the trunk of a black sedan and drove off. Tess had been checking traffic cameras all over the city but the problem was half the population drove a black sedan and the traffic cameras focused on license plates first and then drivers so that just led to extra work.

Hal was sitting beside her watching the monitors and Oliver was pacing the room behind them. He’d hardly said a word since they’d started researching but Tess knew he was thinking and trying to figure out the clues Desmond had left. Oliver had brought everything Desmond had sent him over the past few months and spread them out on the desk. He had Chloe’s bracelet clutched tightly in his hand as he studied everything, glancing up occasionally to check their progress but not saying anything. Tess bit her lip and leaned closer to Hal.  
      
“Have you seen any traces of him?” she asked quietly. Tess was scared. She didn’t know what kind of condition Chloe was in and she knew that every second it took them to find her might be too late. But she was trying to look at this case objectively like they would anything else the team would handle. She wasn’t having much luck though. Chloe had become one of her best friends over the past few months and she hated that she was at the mercy of that psychopath.

Hal shook his head as he rubbed his hand over her back. “I haven’t,” He said quietly. He felt terrible. He knew how hard this was for Oliver and he could see Tess attempting to hold herself together, but he knew she was worried. She had personal experience with Desmond and Hal could only imagine what was going through her head knowing that the man who had once taken her now had her friend.

He glanced over his shoulder at Oliver and he could see how wound up his friend was. He wished there was something he could do to make it better. “Have we tried to track Chloe? I’m sure she had a cell phone or something on her. When I was searching the parking garage earlier I didn’t find one.” He said quietly. “Did you?” He asked Oliver as he continued rubbing Tess’s back in a comforting gesture.

“The GPS was turned off,” Oliver said. It was the first thing he’d checked when he’d come into the office. He’d tried to use the satellite to triangulate the location based on her last call but it wasn’t working. Victor was trying to fix it but Oliver didn’t want to wait any longer. He already felt like he should be out there looking for Chloe. Tess had convinced him not to rush off and to take some time to try and find her before he did anything drastic. He knew she was right just like he knew that the answer was right in front of him.   
      
He turned his attention back to the boats Desmond had sent him. He’d been staring at them for an hour and Oliver still couldn’t figure out what the significance was. He knew there had to be one though. Desmond was a planner; he liked puzzles and making things fit together. Oliver picked up the boat that had been in the box with Chloe’s bracelet. The replica itself was small but it was nearly identical to Desmond’s original boat.  
    

“He’s probably been living on his boat the entire time,” Oliver said. “Tess, check and see which marinas allow renters and hack into the records and find out if there’s anything out of the ordinary with the renters,” he said.  
      
Tess bit her lip as she switched screens and pulled up the database. She didn’t think Desmond would have gone far; not when he wanted Oliver to find him so she stuck to the surrounding area. “Star City doesn’t allow renting but Coast City does and so does Sandalwood,” she said referring to the small beach town on the other side of Star City. She pulled up the names of the renters and saw there were nearly one hundred. She copied the link and sent it to Hal’s monitor. “You start at the bottom and I’ll start from the top.”

Hal nodded and turned towards hi computer hesitating for a second before placing his fingers on the keyboard, scrolling down to the bottom of the list, and starting with the last name. He wasn’t as computer savvy as Chloe or Tess, but she had showed him how to run names through the system. He put the first name through and waited as he glanced at Oliver. His chest tightened as he watched Oliver stare at the miniaturized boats. He swallowed hard “Oliver…do you know where he used to keep his boat? Was it in the Star City Marina?” He asked before turning back to the screen in front of him and running another name.

“Or was there anything special about where he kept his boat or anything like that?” He pressed a few buttons before dropping one hand to Tess’s leg a squeezing lightly, needing the contact. He felt incredibly bad about the way he’d been treating Chloe, especially now that Desmond had her. He shook himself out of his thoughts and spoke as he started to run another name through the system. “Usually people who are boat fanatics like the places they store their boats to have certain specifications so it could help us narrow down which facility he might be at.” Hal told them before glancing between them.

“He kept it in Coast City but that wasn’t where it was the night he took me,” Tess recalled before Oliver could say anything. She had a vague recollection of a conversation she’d had once with Desmond in an elevator before she’d realized that he was crazy. He’d been late for work and he’d explained to her that it had something to do with the storm the night before and he’d had to move his boat. She couldn’t remember the exact details but for some reason, Tess knew they were important. Abandoning her list, Tess opened another window and started researching.   
      
Oliver could see that Hal’s question had sparked something in Tess’s mind. He started to move closer to the computers and then he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. Oliver pulled it out and his heart stopped when he saw Chloe’s name on the caller ID. “Chloe?” he answered desperately.  
      
Desmond laughed. “Try again, Mr. Queen. Or is it Mr. Arrow? Do you have a preference?” He held the phone to his ear with one hand while his other hand had the gun trained on Chloe once again. “I believe I’ve found something of yours that you might want back. Did you receive the package I sent you? I’m sure that green bracelet was a nice tipoff just in case you’re a little slow on the uptake. One can never tell when there’s alcohol involved. Drinking is your vice, right, Oliver?” he asked.

“If you hurt her…”  
      
“You’ll what? Let me die again or kill me yourself with your bare hands?” Desmond interrupted. “You’re going to do exactly as I say, Oliver or you won’t like how many pieces your girlfriend is in when you get here. Do we understand each other?”

Oliver closed his eyes, desperate to keep himself together. Chloe needed him and he couldn’t let Desmond get inside his head. “I want to talk to Chloe. I want to hear from her that she’s all right,” he said.

“I was hoping you’d say that.” Desmond pushed the mute button on the phone so Oliver wouldn’t hear his next words. “I’m going to kill both of you,” he told her matter-of-factly. “But doing anything to tip Oliver off is only going to make things worse for both of you in the end. I’m watching you,” he told her as he passed her the phone.

Chloe glared at him as she took the phone from his hands. He had retied her hands in the front of her body the last time he found her snooping before shoving her in a chair and tying her to that. She needed to find a way to warn him or at the very least tell him not to come. She knew it probably wouldn’t work, but she had to at least try. She couldn’t just let Oliver walk into a trap. She put the phone to her ear and took a deep breath. “Hey Ollie,” She said lightly while glaring daggers at Desmond.

“Chloe, are you okay? Did he hurt you?” Oliver asked. He allowed himself a small second of relief at the sound of her voice but he knew this was far from over. He glanced over his shoulder at Tess and she motioned for him to keep talking. She was on her cell phone with Victor as the two of them attempted to trace the origin of the call.

Chloe could hear the fear in his voice and her chest tightened. “I’m okay…For now,” She added, “You know when we get out of this we’re going to have to come up with a scale of crazy. I mean I know you guys said he was nuts…but wow…we’re talking extra special kinda crazy here,” She said and then swallowed heavily when she glanced up at Desmond who didn’t have a very happy look on his face. She knew she was pushing her luck, but she didn’t care. She wasn’t going to be intimidated by the man who basically said he was going to chop her up in to little pieces. The thought made her nauseous.

“Don’t push it,” Desmond warned. He jammed his gun into her stomach and spoke in a quiet voice. “I’d hate for you to have to wait here in a puddle of your own blood.”  
      
“Chloe, do you know where you are?” Oliver asked. He figured Desmond was standing there listening to every word and he knew she was probably trying to be careful with what she said. “I know he has you on one of his boats but do you know where?” Oliver could see that Hal was still going through the list of names while Tess and Victor worked on tracing the call but it wasn’t happening fast enough.

Chloe grunted as the gun jabbed her in the stomach and she stared at Desmond her fear from earlier returning, but she pushed it down and focused on Oliver words. She was on a boat. Her eyes took in the room again briefly and she guessed that made sense, especially with the way Desmond seemed to like them. “No I don’t and if I did I wouldn’t tell you.” She told him voice matter of fact.

“Damnit, Chloe,” Oliver muttered. He knew exactly what she was doing and he was not amused. “Now is not that time to try and save me. I’m going to find you,” he told her. “I need you to help me. What does he want?” he asked. Oliver’s eyes drifted back to the toy boats once again. Chloe was stalling which meant Desmond had probably threatened to kill both of them. Oliver was not going to let that happen. He was going to figure this out and make sure Chloe got home safe…even if it was the last thing he did.

Chloe opened her mouth to tell him before pausing and thinking better of it. She wasn’t sure what Desmond would do if she told Oliver what he said, but at this point she was almost done caring. She wanted to get as far away from the crazy man in front of her as possible, but she didn’t want Oliver walking into a trap just to save her.

She was terrified something would happen to him. “Does it matter?” She asked before pursing her lips. She met Desmond’s gaze and spoke quickly. “I love you. Don’t come here Oliver he wants to frame Green Arrow and be some kind of,” Her voice cut off when she felt the gun slam into her stomach harder than before. She winced and let out a small noise before glaring up at Desmond. “I’m not afraid of you,” She said her voice hard.

“You should be,” Desmond said. He brought the phone up to his own ear, grinning as he listened to Oliver shouting for Chloe. “Relax, Mr. Queen. The lovely lady is still in one piece for the time being but I can promise you that won’t be the case much longer. I was contemplating cutting out her tongue but that would take the fun out of letting you listen to her scream.”

“I will kill you,” Oliver told him. He didn’t give a damn about the years of guilt he had lived with or the fact that he’d sworn he would bring Desmond in alive so that he could rot in jail. Oliver would kill him without batting an eye if he hurt Chloe. “This is between us,” he told him coldly. “Where are you?” he demanded. Oliver glanced at Tess and she shook her head, letting him know the trace wasn’t working.

“You’re right,” Desmond agreed. “This is between us and I suggest you follow my instructions to the letter or your girlfriend is going to pay for each and every mistake you make. I want you to come alone. I don’t want to see Tess’s spandex wearing boyfriend or any of those misfits you call a team anywhere near here. You will come as Green Arrow and you will be here in twenty minutes. For every minute that you’re late, I’ll be injecting a different poison into Chloe’s veins. Do you remember what happened to those lab rats?” he asked.

Oliver’s chest tightened. He knew there was no way Hal was going to let him leave on his own. He forced himself to speak calmly. “I’ll be waiting for your next call and I’ll get the money ready,” he said slowly.   
      
Desmond laughed. “I take it you’re not alone. Well played, Mr. Queen. You’ll find my new boat in Sandalwood. I think you’ll appreciate the name. The clock is ticking.” He disconnected the call and tossed the phone aside. “He’s on his way. No thanks to you,” he told Chloe snidely.

Chloe shrugged, “Oh well you win some you lose some,” She said with a smirk. “As long as you realize you’ll be losing this one.” She told him with much more confidence than she currently felt. She knew there was no way Oliver was going to just leave her there and she was pretty sure she’d just made it worse. Oliver was going to show up without any back-up and Tess and Hal were going to have to find him.

She tried not to sigh as she kept her cheery expression. “You realize once he gets here, you’re done right?” She asked, “There’s no way you’re getting out of this Desmond so I hope you enjoy federal prison and just a reminder, don’t drop the soap.” She said sweetly while trying to push down the nausea that was currently making her stomach turn.

“For someone who has less than an hour to live, you certainly seem content to waste precious time,” Desmond replied. He straightened up, sliding the gun into the pocket of his suit as he moved toward the stairs. “I’m going to go make sure everything is ready for Oliver’s imminent arrival. Wait until you feel the first poison seeping into your skin.” Desmond grinned. “The pain will be unimaginable.” He moved above deck and closed the door but didn’t bother locking it since Chloe was tied to the chair.

Chloe closed her eyes when she heard the door shut as she slouched in the chair. She could feel her body getting warmer as the churning in her stomach increased. She’d been hoping if she ignored it long enough that maybe it would just go away, but that was just wishful thinking. She shifted and winced. There was nothing left for her to do except wait for Oliver and pray that he had some kind of a plan.

Oliver heard the phone disconnect, but he kept talking “I will do what you want as long as Chloe is safe. I’ll wait for your next call.” He swallowed hard as he lowered the phone from his ear and turned to face his friends. “He says he wants money to get out of the country, but I think he’s bluffing. Were you able to get anything?” he asked. In his head, he heard Desmond’s voice reminding him that the clock was ticking.

Sandalwood was less than fifteen minutes away; he knew he could make it in ten but there were hundreds of boats there and he needed to find the right one. He couldn’t waste too much time talking to his friends.

Tess shook her head. “The GPS was still off and the signal was bouncing all over the place. He must have used some kind of blocking device. Was Chloe okay?” she asked. Her hand was digging into Hal’s thigh as she watched Oliver. She could see the fear in his eyes and she knew he was barely holding himself together.  
      
“For now,” Oliver said thickly. He swallowed hard and ran his hands over his face. “I need you two to keep working on those lists. I want to narrow it down before he comes back. The element of surprise might be our only hope. I’m going to go put my gear on. I can’t do it as fast as you,” he told Hal before he turned and hurried down the hall.

Hal paused in his typing and turned away from the computer as he glanced at Tess. “I can’t believe he had the audacity to call Oliver. What a douche…he’s baiting him,” He said softly while running another name through the system. Something about the look on his friends face seemed off. He wondered what else Desmond had said. It was strange that after everything the only thing Desmond wanted was to leave the country. “How are you holding up?” he asked her while rubbing her leg lightly.

“I’m trying to hold it together but all I want to do is scream and then go after Desmond myself,” Tess admitted. She squeezed Hal’s leg again and then turned her attention back to the search she’d been working on before Desmond called. “I’m glad Oliver got to talk to Chloe, but I don’t know if it helped him. He seemed pretty out of it. Not that I blame him but…” Her voice trailed off.

She couldn’t imagine what Oliver was going through. He’d already blamed himself for everything and now Desmond had Chloe. But they were going to find her. She bit the corner of her lip as she opened another screen. “Victor downloaded the call. I’m going to listen to it and see if there’s anything there. You should go check on Oliver,” she said. Hal had been in Oliver’s position and Tess figured he would be more help to him than she would.

Hal nodded. “You’re right. I’ll go talk to him now,” He told her softly before leaning over and pressing a kiss to the side of her head. “Call if you need me.” He told her before standing and pushing the chair away as he moved out of the office and down the hall. He slipped his hands into his pockets as he made his way towards Oliver’s equipment room. He knew what it was like to have the person you loved taken by a psycho and it was probably one of the scariest things in the world.

He scratched the back of his neck as he walked into the arrow room head down. “Hey man, I just wanted to come in and check on you, see how you were…Oliver?” He called out as he glanced around the equipment room and frowned. Shit. He turned around quickly and jogged back down the hall towards the office as he called out to Tess. “He’s gone! Oliver’s gone.” He said while stopping short in the office doorway, his eyes falling on Tess.

“I know,” Tess said. She hit a few buttons on the computer and replayed the last part of the call she’d listened to. When it was over, she turned back to Hal, eyes wide. “We know he’s in Sandalwood but we still don’t know which boat is his. I can’t believe Oliver went without any backup,” she complained. Tess knew he was scared for Chloe but that had been a stupid move. “I told Victor to call AC. He’s on the other side of the world but he should be there in about thirty minutes. I know you want to go running after him, but we need to have a plan first.”

Hal frowned. “I have a plan I go in after Oliver and you stay here and guide me to him. See plan.” He said while moving towards the computer and pointing towards the list Tess had been working on. “Can you get me the address?” He asked while pushing things around on the desk looking for a com device. “He doesn’t have that much of a head start; I can probably get there before anything happens.” He told her hoping he was right.

“The Sandalwood Marina but there are over one hundred and twenty boats there.” Tess pulled up an image on the satellite and zeroed in on the feed to give him a current picture of the docked boats. “He didn’t give Oliver the name but something tells me he figured out a clue.” She gestured to the desk where he’d left all of the model ships. “He was looking at those for a long time and I think something triggered in his head.”

She bit down on her lip again and tried to figure out what to do. She knew they didn’t have time to waste and she didn’t agree with Oliver’s decision to go on his own, but sending Hal in without backup didn’t seem like a good plan either. “Go to the marina and contact me when you get there.” She slipped a com device in her ear and logged herself into the system. “I’m going to keep sorting through these names and Hal, please be careful,” she urged.

Hal nodded, leaned down and gave her a quick kiss before he threw his hands out and activated his ring. His suit rippled against his skin appearing quickly and he gave Tess a tense grin. “I love you,” He said before putting the com device in his ear and winking at her. “I’ll be online as soon as I get there.” He told her before walking out of the office and heading towards the balcony. He pushed open the door and took a deep breath before soaring off into the sky in search of Oliver.

_______

Oliver made it to the marina in less than ten minutes. He bypassed the first three rows of boats and parked his bike at the far end. There were two more rows of boats on this side and the line of stores on the dock blocked them for view. Oliver figured Desmond’s boat had to be in one of those rows. He wouldn’t want to risk exposure. Now he just needed to figure out which one was his. Oliver scanned the names of the boats as he jogged past them. None of them triggered anything in his head. He was nearly to the end of the pier when he caught sight of a boat called Queen.

“You son-of-a-bitch,” Oliver muttered. He grabbed his crossbow from its holster and fired an arrow toward the boat, watching it wrap around the flagpole. He hoisted himself over the side, landing softly on the deck. Desmond was a creature of habit and Oliver knew he was probably waiting near the front of the boat but Chloe would be below deck. Oliver didn’t hesitate to make his way down the stairs. He spotted Chloe tied to a chair in the corner. “Chloe.” He rushed to her side and reached into his belt, pulling out a knife to cut the ropes. “Did he hurt you?”

Chloe’s eyes opened at the sound of Oliver’s voice. She knew he’d make it here, but a part of her had hoped he wouldn’t find her. She opened her mouth to tell him to leave when a sharp pain ripped through her stomach and she doubled over slightly a small noise leaving her throat as she bit her lip tightly so she wouldn’t cry out.

Her chest felt tight and her body felt like it was burning up from the inside out. “Ollie,” She said before pausing to try and get more air into her lungs a task that seemed to be getting more difficult by the minute. “You have to…leave,” She whispered as she closed her eyes for a minute to stop the room from spinning.

“Chloe, what’s wrong?” Oliver asked. He got the ropes off her hands but he could see that she wasn’t okay. He took her face in his hands, wishing he wasn’t wearing his gloves. “What’s wrong, Sidekick? What did he do to you?” he asked. Oliver glanced around, trying to figure out the best way to get her out of there. Desmond had to know he was there by now and he was leaving them alone for a reason and it probably was not good for them.

Chloe could hear the desperation in his voice and her heart clenched. She lifted her hand to his face and her arm felt like a weight. She didn’t want to tell him what was going on she just wanted to get him off the damn boat and back on solid ground. She shook her head and gave him half a smile. “I’m okay…let’s just get out of here.” She said, her voice low.

She pushed herself up and went to step towards Oliver when another pain tore through her body and she stumbled one hand on his arm nails digging into his skin, the other hand going to her stomach as she let out a sharp cry, her movements only making the pain increase as the poison worked through her system.

Oliver wrapped his arm around her waist, holding her steady against him as his heart started to pound. It was obvious Desmond had poisoned her and Oliver knew he didn’t have much time to get her to the hospital. He reached under his hood and pressed the button to activate the com he had taken with him but he knew better than to speak directly to Tess.

“Chloe, do you have any other symptoms aside from the stomach pain? Do you know what kind of poison it was?” he asked. Oliver had to assume that Tess and Hal figured out where he had gone by now and Hal was probably close.

“It’s good to see you’re not a complete idiot,” Tess muttered in his ear as she pulled up the files that had once been part of Desmond’s lab as she waited for Chloe to answer Oliver’s question.

She swallowed hard as her hand tightened on him. “I’m sorry,” She said lighly before trying to focus on his words. “I’m dizzy,” She told him while holding onto him for support. “It’s hot,” She breathed, “I feel…it burns,” She said softly while closing her eyes again. She hesitated before speaking knowing that he wouldn’t be able to help her unless he knew what was wrong. “It’s getting harder to breath,” She whispered.

Tess frowned as she listened to Chloe’s symptoms; her fingers flying over the keys as she searched through Desmond’s database. There were several poisons that might have been causing her symptoms but it didn’t look like any of them were instantly fatal. Even so, Tess texted Emil to let him know that they would need to bring Chloe to the hospital as soon as Oliver and Hal got her out of there.

She glanced at the screen and saw that Hal was at the marina but he was still searching for the boat. They hadn’t found it in the database. “Oliver, Chloe has some time. I think the poison is just meant to cause her pain. What is the name of the boat? Hal’s close.”

“Queen,” Oliver replied. His voice was barely above a whisper. He wrapped his arm tighter around Chloe and pulled her against him. “I’m going to get you out of there,” he promised as he pressed a kiss to the side of her head. “Just stay with me, Chloe,” he urged.

Tess activated her com link to Hal. “The boat is called Queen and it looks like it’s on the far end of the marina,” she said. When Oliver had turned on the com, she’d finally been able to pick him up on the GPS but there were no cameras close enough to get a visual. “Hal, Chloe’s been poisoned and we don’t have a lot of time. Get closer and see if you can see Desmond.”

Hal was in the air above the boats and he pursed his lips at Tess’s words, that wasn’t good. “I’m on it, heading that way now,” He said as he tilted his body towards the left of the marina. He couldn’t believe Desmond had actually poisoned Chloe…actually he could. Anything to make Oliver suffer was his goal. He landed on the deck of the boat and he pressed him com again. “Alright I’m on the boat, where did you say they were?” He asked Tess as he walked slowly further on to the boat.

“Oliver and Chloe are downstairs but I don’t know where Desmond is. Hal, something doesn’t feel right about this,” Tess said. Desmond had left Oliver and Chloe alone for a long time and now Hal was on the boat and he still hadn’t shown himself. She switched to the infrared satellite imagery and tracked the heat signatures. There were only three on the boat. “He’s not on the boat anymore. Hal, get Oliver and Chloe out of there now!” she shouted. It had all been a ruse. Desmond had left them alone because he had no intention of letting either of them leave the boat.

“Shit,” He said as he made a beeline for the stair he saw in front of him towards his right. He took them two at a time before practically jumping down the last three steps. He ran into the room and caught sight of Oliver holding Chloe in his arms. “Arrow! We need to get out of here now. Desmond’s not on the boat…I’m guessing it’s going to blow or something along those lines.” He told him as his chest tightened when he saw a palm Chloe in his friends arm. “Now,” He said pointedly to Oliver.

“I need you to take Chloe to the hospital,” Oliver replied. He completely disregarded Hal’s warning as he stared down at his girlfriend. She was getting weak too fast. There had to be more than just one poison in her system. This was what Desmond wanted; he wanted Oliver to stand there helplessly and watch her die. There was no way in hell he was going to let that happen. “Tess already called Emil and you can get her there faster than I can. Hal, come on,” he urged when Hal just stood there and looked at him like he was crazy.

“Oliver I can’t leave you here,” he said even as he took Chloe from him. His chest was tight as he glanced down at the blonde who still had one hand gripping his friend. Another noise left her throat and Hal hesitated.

Chloe shook her head as she glanced at Oliver. “No…I’m not leaving you.” She said as another stab of pain shot through her causing her body to jerk slightly as she tried not to cry out not wanting to upset Oliver. “Ollie, please,” She whispered as she did her best to keep her eyes open. She was feeling so tired.

Hal was torn. He didn’t know what to do. On one hand he had Oliver asking him to help him out and on the other; they knew this was a trap. They knew that Desmond planned to kill Oliver and most likely Chloe from the looks of it, but how could he just leave his friend there to die? He couldn’t…that was the problem. “I don’t think this is a good idea…just come with us Oliver.”                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

Oliver pulled off his glasses and met his friend’s eyes. “Hal, I need you to take Chloe to the hospital,” he said again. Oliver understood why Hal was hesitating and he didn’t blame him but all he cared about was making sure Chloe was okay. Oliver gently pulled her hand away from his arm and pressed a kiss to her wrist. “You’re going to be fine, Sidekick. Hal will make sure of it.” He looked from Chloe back to Hal. “Trust me,” he urged him.

Hal swallowed heavily and nodded as he lifted Chloe in his arms even as she attempted to struggle against him mumbling something about Desmond and trying to kill Oliver. Hal pursed his lips and glanced at his friend. “I do trust you,” He told him and that was the truth. The problem was he didn’t trust Desmond and the last thing he wanted to do was leave Oliver alone and then something happened to him. He would never forgive himself if that happened.

He gave Oliver one more look before sighing and nodding. “Be careful,” He told him before heading towards the steps, Chloe in his arms. He made it to the top without a problem and as he took off into the sky he couldn’t help the bad feeling that settled in the pit of his stomach.

Oliver swallowed heavily as he watched them go. He knew Hal would take care of Chloe; he just hoped it wasn’t too late. Oliver slipped his glasses back into place and made his way up the stairs to the deck as the com device beeped in his ear.

“What are you doing?” Tess asked. “You need to get out of there in case there’s a bomb.” She was already running the scanners and she didn’t see any traces of explosives but that didn’t mean Desmond didn’t have something else in mind. It had been way too easy for Oliver to rescue Chloe.

“He’s not going to blow up his boat again,” Oliver said. He jumped off the side and landed easily on the pier. He looked at the two boats on other side of the Queen. One was called Fantasy Fulfilled and the other was the End. Oliver rolled his eyes and made his way toward the End which was the last boat on the pier. It was also the only one whose motor was running. “Tess, I need to kill this feed. Who else is here?” he asked.

Tess was watching him move toward the other boat on the satellite feed and she realized he knew all along what Desmond was doing. “Aquaman is on his way. He should be there any minute. Oliver, let me help you,” she urged. Tess knew there wasn’t much she could do from her current position but she didn’t like the idea of him facing Desmond alone. “When did you figure it out?” she asked as she watched him board the boat.

“Something clicked when I was on my way here,” Oliver replied. He’d been thinking about what Chloe had said about Desmond wanting to frame Green Arrow for everything. That was just what Desmond wanted him to know. It wasn’t the whole story by any means. “Tess, I’m going radio silent. Keep Aquaman on standby and if I don’t make it, take care of Chloe.”

“Oliver!” Tess shouted for him, but Oliver had already muted the com link. He bypassed the passenger area of the boat and walked around to the front, crossbow in hand. He could already feel the boat moving beneath his feet and when he turned the corner, he saw Desmond standing at the controls, steering the boat away from the pier.

“Nice night for a sail, don’t you think, Mr. Queen?” Desmond asked without turning around to face Oliver.

“Or a nice night for me to put an arrow in your back,” Oliver replied. He kept the crossbow steady as he moved closer to Desmond. “But that would be too easy just like finding Chloe was too easy. What do you really want, Desmond?” he asked.

“I want the same thing I’ve always wanted, Oliver.” Desmond turned to face Oliver. He was still holding the gun and he aimed it at Oliver’s chest. “I want you to take me seriously. I’ve perfected my research and I’ve invited you here for a demonstration. I knew you wouldn’t follow my instructions and come alone and your girlfriend paid the price for that. She’ll be all right in a few days and once she and your friends are done publicly grieving for you, I will kill them.” He shrugged. “It’s nothing personal, Oliver but I can’t have any loose ends. You of all people should know how loose ends can come back and haunt you.”

Oliver scowled. “You’re right, Desmond. But this time when I kill you, I’ll make sure it sticks.” He pointed his crossbow at Desmond’s chest.

Desmond laughed. “Someone didn’t learn from his mistakes. It’s a shame too. I did want you to be the first person to try this.” He held up a small vial containing a green liquid. “It’s fast acting; much faster than the stuff I injected Chloe with. You’ll be dead before we hit open sea. You have to appreciate the delicious irony of you dying at sea for real this time. But first, I want you to sign all of your assets over to me.” He gestured with the gun toward a small table where there was a manila folder sitting. “I took the liberty of having the papers drawn up.”

“Wow, Desmond, that’s very generous of me to leave everything I own to an employee who disappeared three years ago after all of his coworkers were killed with a poison he created. How will you explain that to the police? Or to the people who will contest this brand new will that was signed without any witnesses?” Oliver asked. He knew Desmond had snapped; not that he’d ever been working with a full deck to begin with.

But Oliver had heard the gleefulness in his voice when he’d made this threats and he’d thought back to everything Desmond had sent him and how it started making less and less sense. He’d stopped following through with things and he’d jumped from one plan to the next without logical transitions. All this time Oliver had been trying to find logic and he’d finally realized that there was none. Desmond had no idea what he was doing and that made him even more dangerous. But it also made him vulnerable and Oliver planned to take advantage of that.

“No one will ask questions when they see your signature,” Desmond said. He waved the gun toward the papers. “I don’t have all night. I need you to sign those and then I will kill you and leave you in the ocean like you did for me.”

“Or,” Oliver countered; stretching the word out as he spoke. “I can show you something I’ve been working on.” He fired his crossbow before Desmond could blink, the arrow lodging itself in his shoulder as a green gas slipped out. Desmond choked as he fell back against the console. His finger squeezed the trigger, but Oliver was quicker and dropped down to his knees, the bullet whizzing by him and landing in the side of the boat. He got to his feet quickly and kicked the gun out of Desmond’s hand before he had a chance to fire.

Desmond started coughing as he slid to the floor, his eyes watering as he looked up at Oliver. “What have you done to me? What is this?” he asked.

Oliver smirked as he leaned down over him. “It’s a special chemical a friend of mine created for me. In a few minutes, you’ll lose the ability to move your arms and legs and then slowly your mind will start to fade and pretty soon, you won’t remember your own name. Try coming back from that, Desmond.”

He shook his head frantically. “Just kill me, please,” he pleaded.

“Death is too easy for you,” Oliver replied. He knew for a man like Desmond who wanted fame and fortune and to see his name in lights that not remembering anything was a fate worse than death. Of course the chemical in the arrow was nothing more than a diluted version of the sleeping gas he normally used, but Desmond didn’t know that. He grabbed Desmond by the collar of his shirt and hoisted him to his knees. “You should have stayed dead.” He watched as Desmond’s head lulled to the side as the sleeping gas finally took effect.

“A little dramatic don’t you think?”

Oliver smirked and let Desmond fall to the ground as he pressed the button on his com link. “I thought it was a nice speech. Have AC bring him to our friends in Mexico. There’s a nice jail cell with his name on it there,” he instructed as he moved toward the steering wheel to take the boat back to the dock. Oliver had called in a favor from an old friend because he didn’t want to risk Desmond going on trial and revealing his identity to the world. He also knew that his friend would make sure Desmond was never released from prison.

“How’s Chloe?” he asked as he cut the engine and jumped down to the pier.

“She’s at the hospital and Emil is with her now. I’ll talk to AC and meet you there with a change of clothes,” Tess said.

“Thanks,” Oliver replied. He knew Desmond would be taken care of but now he needed to see for himself that Chloe was okay.


	18. Chapter 18

Hal stood by the tray inside the hotel suite as he tipped the bottle up and poured two glasses of champagne. He grinned as he watched the bubbles build up in the flute. It had been just over a week since Oliver captured Desmond on his boat and rescued Chloe. Things had finally started to settle down once their resident psychopath was behind bars in Mexico and so Hal had whisked Tess away for a mini vacation yesterday morning.

So far, he was pretty sure his fiancé was having a good time. He figured four days away from everything and everyone would definitely do them some good, plus now that Desmond was gone they could finally start focusing on more important things, like their wedding. Hal was actually looking forward to diving back into planning or rather letting Tess and Chloe dive back in with him Mother while he looked on and nodded approvingly.

He shook himself out of his thoughts as he lifted both glass before moving towards the small table in the sitting room. Hal pressed the button on his phone quickly checking to make sure he didn’t have any new messages and when the screen was empty he walked back towards the bedroom glasses in hand. He moved through the door and smirked at the site of Tess in bed. That was until he saw the phone in her hand.

Hal paused and arched an eyebrow. “What did we say about phones?” He asked her while walking towards the bed. “This is going to be a phone free vacation. Any and all electronic devices that are not dirty must stay out of the bedroom…why are you breaking rule number one of our fantastical getaway?” He asked, a slight pout forming on his lips as he sat carefully on the bed and handed her one of the champagne flutes from his hand.

Tess smirked as she finished what she was doing on her phone and tossed it aside before accepting the glass of champagne that he offered her. “I was just checking in with Chloe. I wasn’t working,” she insisted as she shifted closer to him and pressed a kiss to his jaw. “It’s not my fault you left me all alone in this big bed,” she teased as she ran her free hand down his chest and began to trace the indentations of his muscles with her fingertips.

The truth was she’d been hoping to be finished with the message before he’d come back into the room and she’d almost made it. Chloe was fully recovered and Desmond was rotting in a jail cell where he belonged but Tess couldn’t help worrying about Oliver. She knew he’d gone back to work the day before and she’d just wanted to check and make sure everything was okay. Chloe had assured her that Oliver was doing pretty well considering the circumstances and everything was status quo in Star City.

“Mmm,” He said before moving his hand down and capturing her wrist between his fingers. He brought her hand up to his lips, a spark of mischief in his eyes as he pressed a light kiss to each of her fingers. “Sure you were. No more phones. Miss Mercer,” He said before leaning in and pressing his lips to her neck, placing a trail of light kisses to her collar bone. “So what were we celebrating before I went to get us more champagne and you check out of vacation mode?” He teased before running his tongue along her skin.

“I think we might have been discussing me wanting to buy us a house after the wedding and you attempting to convince me that we had more than enough room in our apartment?” He said, but with a hint of a question in his tone. Hal loved their apartment and he didn’t want to force Tess into anything, but ever since things had calmed down he’d been thinking a lot about the wedding and how they planned to handle things after.

Hal really wanted a place they could call home. Not an apartment, but a house…a place they could build a life and maybe one day when they were both ready, a family. Their life would never be normal because of what they did and Hal was glad about that because for him normal was boring, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t have bits and pieces of normal mixed in with their crazy.

Tess let out a quiet sigh; her eyes drifting shut as she enjoyed the feeling of his lips and tongue on her skin. She brought her hand up to his head and ran her fingers through his hair as she thought about what he was asking her. If she was being honest, the idea of a house terrified her a little bit because she knew it would eventually lead to the discussion of having kids. She knew without a doubt that Hal’s mother would probably start some kind of countdown and drop hints each and every time they saw one another. That was not something she was looking forward to at all.

But she also knew that this was important to Hal or he would have let the subject drop after she’d distracted him from it earlier. Tess knew Hal wanted to have something normal in their lives and she couldn’t really blame him for that. She bit down on her lip as she considered what it would be like to live in a house that was just theirs. She’d never really been the type of person who needed a yard or tons of space, but she knew that Hal was and she loved him more than anything.

“Okay,” Tess said. She met his gaze and pressed a finger to his lips before he had a chance to say anything. “But I have two conditions, Mr. Jordan. The first one is that you are not allowed to even glance at the real estate section until we get back from our honeymoon. I don’t want you distracted from doing your share of work for the wedding and two if you mention this to your mother before then, the wedding is off.”

Hal chuckled, his eyes bright as he nodded. “You don’t want to get the baby talk again, got it. No worries. I don’t plan on knocking you up any time soon.” He said amused. “A baby would take up a lot of your time and I’m not quite ready to share you…” He told her before trailing his hand down her side.

“And speaking of honeymoon…Have we decided where we’re going? Then again it doesn’t really matter; I plan on keeping you in bed the entire time anyway.” He said with a wink while bringing his head back to her neck as he gripped her hips and shifted her body so she was straddling his lap.

“What else?” He asked while sucking her skin into his mouth hard enough to leave a mark. They had been alternating between coming up with plans for the weeding and having all kinds of sex. Hal was pretty sure this was their best vacation yet.

Tess shifted on his lap until she was pressed intimately against him as he sucked on her neck. “If you keep that up, I won’t be able to answer your questions.” But she threaded her fingers through his hair to keep his head pressed against her skin. “I was going to suggest we go somewhere we’ve never been for the honeymoon, but maybe that isn’t the best choice,” she teased. Tess doubted they’d get much sightseeing done.

“There are more wedding plans we need to work out.” Tess moaned; her fingers tightening in his hair when he hit a particularly sensitive spot on her neck. “We need to decide on a cake flavor and whether or not we want a DJ or a band.” She shifted on his lap again and rocked her hips against his. “I still need a third bridesmaid since you have so many groomsmen unless you can talk one of your brothers into being an usher. We need to decide on the church thing but I really don’t want to talk about that right now,” she said. Tess wasn’t exactly a religious person but she still felt uncomfortable talking about church when Hal was in the process of turning her on.

Hal groaned at the feel of her his rocking against his and then snickered at her words. "Let's not bring god into the bedroom Red, I'm not sure he'd approve of our premarital activities," he teased while running one of his hands down her back, the satin of her neglegai smooth beneath his fingers as his rested his palm flat against the small of her back pushing her body tighter against his.  
  
He dipped his head again letting his lips kiss the skin above her breasts. "Cake, vanilla is always a safer bet," he whispered against her skin as his other hand slid up and brushed the underside of her breast, teasing her. "Neither of my brothers are going to take a step down, so why don't you ask Chloe's cousin to be your other bridesmaid." He told her while moved his hand further up cupping her breast and brushing his thumb against her nipple.   
  
"I agree on the honeymoon," He said, voice husky before he lifted his head, captured her lips in a heated kiss, and coaxed her mouth open deepening the kiss.

Tess eagerly returned the kiss, moaning as his thumb brushed her nipple again. She let her hand drop between them and she wrapped her fingers around his length, gripping him through his boxers. “I’ll think about it,” she said when the kiss broke for air. She stroked her hand up and down his shaft and placed feather light kisses over his jaw. “I think the talking portion of the morning has ended.”

She pulled back so she could look into his eyes as she continued stroking him. “Have I told you today just how much I love you?” Tess trailed her other hand over his back. “I want you, Hal. Now,” she added as she pressed her mouth to his once again.

Hal groaned attempting to focus on her words as her hand continued to move against him. He moved his hands and cupped her cheeks as he looked into her eyes, he face softening even as lust filled his eyes. “You might have, but I never mind hearing it.” He told her before pressing his lips against hers, slipping his tongue into her mouth and deepening the kiss. He didn’t pull back until air became an issue.

His breathing was growing heavy as he let one hand drop to the hem of her nightgown and slip beneath it. He brushing his fingers against her panties and let out a long breath. “I love you too.” He said before using his body to flip them over until she was beneath him. He smirked down at the surprise on her face. “And you’re right, the talking part of this morning is most definitely over,” He whispered and before she could say anything he covered her mouth with his fiercely.

 

______

 

It was just after seven when Oliver stepped off the elevator with a bag of Chinese takeout in his hands. “Chloe, I’m home,” he called as he made his way through the quiet apartment toward the kitchen. His second day back at the office had been a lot less chaotic than the first and he was in a good mood. He wanted to spend a few hours with Chloe before it was time to patrol for the night. They were a man short with Hal out of town with Tess, but things had been blissfully quiet over the past week and Oliver wanted to enjoy it while it lasted.

He grabbed plates and utensils from the cabinet as he started unpacking the containers. He figured Chloe was probably busy in the office helping one of the guys. It had taken her a few days to get back on her feet once Emil had gotten all of the poison out of her system and Oliver knew that she had hated being too weak to do anything other than lie in bed so she was taking full advantage of being mobile again.

His chest tightened at the memory of when he’d walked into her hospital room and she’d been deathly pale as Emil hovered over her monitoring her IV. The doctor had assured Oliver that she was just resting and she’d be fine, but Oliver hadn’t let himself believe it until she’d woken up and told him herself that she was okay. Even then, he hadn’t left her side until yesterday when she’d finally convinced him to go back to work.

Desmond was currently secured in a Mexican psychiatric facility and under twenty-four hour a day guard. He’d ranted and raved about Green Arrow and poison and taking flying men in green for the first few days he’d been in his cell but the people who ran the facility were used to the ravings of lunatics and paid no attention to him.

Oliver smirked as he thought about how miserable Desmond would be without an audience and with no access to his chemicals for the rest of his life. It really was a punishment worse than death for someone like him. It wouldn’t bring back Mary or any of his other victims, but Oliver felt better knowing that Desmond would never hurt anyone else.

He shook himself from his thoughts as he heard Chloe making her way down the hall. Oliver didn’t want to waste any more time than he already had thinking about that psycho. He went to the refrigerator and grabbed two bottles of water and set them on the table as he waited for Chloe.

Chloe had heard Oliver calling her, but wanted to finish up a quick mission with AC before making her way to the kitchen. She could hear him moving around as she walked down the hallway and she smiled. Oliver had been amazing the past week, not that he wasn't normally, but he'd gone above and beyond the call of duty when she was in the hospital and then even after she came home.  
  
But she was feeling a lot better now and things were finally starting to go back to normal. Chloe made her way into the kitchen a bright smile on her face. "Hello boyfriend," she said her tone light as she moved over to him and pressed a kiss against his cheek before turning to face the island. "Oh Chinese, yum." She said while starting to lean forward to grab a fortune cookie.

“I should have known you’d want dessert first,” Oliver teased. He nuzzled her neck and pressed a light kiss there before moving to sit down in his chair. “How was your day?” he asked as he reached for the container of rice and started spooning some onto each of their plates. He normally talked to Chloe several times during the day, but he’d had back to back meetings and a few interviews to try and find a new assistant. Oliver was attempting to promote from within but he wasn’t crazy about the list of candidates he’d received so far. Tess had suggested giving Stella a raise and asking her if she’d like to work for both of them and he was starting to think that would be the best option.

Chloe rolled her eyes, but there was a grin on her lips as she sat next to him while working on getting her fortune cookie open. "My day was okay. I finished all my work by noon so I decided to reorganize the database and then I provided support for AC on his venture to free the dolphins...yay!" She said with a flourish of her hands before laughing lightly as she pulled out her fortune cookie.  
  
"How about you? How was your day? And how goes the search for a new assistant?" She asked softly knowing that even though he was handling things well it had to hurt having to replace Mary.

“My day was mostly filled with boring meetings,” Oliver said. He put an egg roll on her plate and reached for the carton of Mongolian beef. “The assistant search isn’t going very well. The first two candidates seemed terribly under qualified and the third one kept staring at me but I don’t think she heard a word I was saying. The only question she asked me was if I was single.” He rolled his eyes and added sweet and sour sauce to his plate. “I’ve got a few more people to interview tomorrow but I think I might talk to Stella and see if she’d be interested in expanding her job tasks. Tess and I share most of the work anyway.” He paused to take a bite of food. He had skipped breakfast and lunch and he was starving.

Oliver swallowed the food and reached for his water. “I’m glad things are still quiet out there and I’m sure AC appreciated the help. He gets a bit overzealous when it comes to his rallies.” Oliver had lost track of the times he’d had to bail him out of jail or worse. “Did you talk to Lois and Clark about coming for a visit?”

Lois had been less than thrilled to hear about Chloe being kidnapped after the fact and she’d insisted Clark bring her to the hospital so she could see for herself that Chloe was okay. After that, Oliver had suggested the two of them come back in a few weeks when Chloe was healthy again so they could spend some time together. He knew how much Chloe missed her cousin.

"And I hate to burst your bubble, but there are a lot of woman who stare at you, but don't bother listening to what you say," she teased. "Aren't you lucky you found a woman who can do both?" She asked humor on her face as she placed a light kiss on his lips before pulling out her fortune. "It says I will have a prosperous night...in bed." She added with a wink before tossing it aside, putting half the cookie in her mouth and grabbing the fork he left out for her. She chewed before giving him a small smile and addressing his other questions. "Thank you,” she motioned toward the food before eating some of the rice.

"I'm all for helping AC, by the way he adopted a dolphin in my name," she said with a bright grin, "it's nice to help out with non-end of the world stuff and Lois." Chloe shook her head and chuckled lightly. "You realize you basically gave my cousin a free for all when you told her she could come out here. She's planning some sort of schedule she emailed it to me today. It's color coded and everything," she said with a small smile. "She's going to be out here a lot more than I think you might want."  
  
Chloe's smile widened at the thought. She knew Lois was worried about her and she felt bad that she hadn't thought to call her cousin right away when everything went down. But thankfully Oliver had and if she was honest she sort of enjoyed Lois's fussing. She hadn't seen her cousin in a while and she missed her.

Oliver laughed. “Well I’m sure you two will enjoy yourselves. Just make sure she knows that she can’t actually stay here,” he said gesturing to the apartment. “I banned overnight guests a few years ago when the guys started wearing out their welcome.” He rolled his eyes at the memory and brought another forkful of food to his mouth.

Bart and AC had stayed with him for a month once and it had been like they were taking turns to see who could annoy him the most. Actually, that was probably exactly what they were doing. He’d put his foot down after that and said no one was allowed to stay with him and he’d gladly put out the money for a hotel room if anyone needed one.

“Besides, I’d hate to deprive you of a prosperous night in bed because we had guests,” Oliver teased. He leaned over and placed another kiss on her neck, letting his lips linger against her skin as his hand dropped to her thigh. “We both know how loud you tend to get…which might be what I told Stacey when she asked if I was single. By the way, it’s nice to see that you’re so amused at the idea of another woman hitting on me. You really know how to make a guy feel loved, Sidekick.” He gave her a mock hurt look before turning his attention back to his food.

Chloe rolled her eyes and tilted her head in his direction as she bit into her eggroll and pointed at him with her fork. “First, I’m not sure Lois is going to appreciate being told she can’t stay with us and I will not get in the middle of that argument you’re on your own there,” She said with a smirk. “Second you’re slightly dramatic you know that?” She told him with a light laugh.

“Why do you remember her name? And I’m sure you get hit on a lot in a day, I’m not all that surprised and I find it amusing because I know every single last one of them are going to be shot down and that kind of makes me want to be like ‘Ha I’ve got Oliver Queen and you don’t’ but then I remember that I don’t really love you because you’re Oliver Queen I love you because you know…you’re you.” She said lightly giving him a warm smile.

“Also keep your hands to yourself until I’m done eating.” She said pointedly, “You’ll distract me and I’m starving. I might have forgotten to eat. I think I need to get a bell or something,” She told him nonchalantly. “Lastly, I didn’t realize I was so loud,” She exaggerated the word. “I guess I’ll have to work on being far less vocal.” She said with a light _‘humph’_.

Oliver rolled his eyes, but he removed his hand from her leg. “I didn’t say it was a bad thing.” He gave her a pointed look. “But if you want Lois to stay here I guess it’s okay as long as it never gets back to the team. If it does, we’ll have to move,” he told her. Oliver knew Chloe liked the guys and thought they were all harmless but she’d never been forced to share close quarters with them for a long period of time.

“As for Stacey, I know her name because she works for me which is also why I was thrown off by her blatant flirting,” Oliver said. It would have been over the top in a bar, but it was beyond unprofessional. “But feel free to brag about having me anytime you want,” he teased. Despite her earlier objections, he leaned over and kissed her cheek. “I love you too, Chloe,” he said quietly against her skin. Even though it had been over a week since she’d been kidnapped and she was fine now, Oliver still remembered the terror he’d felt when Tess had told him that she was gone.

Chloe gave him a sideways glance and sighed ignoring his words about Lois. If he really preferred that people stay somewhere else when they visited that was okay with her, she had only been joking around. “Are you getting all sappy on me again Queen?” She asked her tone stern, but her expression was affectionate. “I didn’t say I love you…though it’s true I do.” She told him lightly before shifting her stool just a little bit closer to his.

“That was extremely unprofessional of Stacy. Doesn’t she know you have a jealous girlfriend at home who can hack into her entire life and make her disappear?” She asked calmly before she was no longer able to keep a straight face.

Chloe laughed and gave him a playful grin. “Kidding of course,” She told him while resting a hand on his thigh. “I would never do that.” A slow grin slid onto her lips as she leaned towards him and pressed a kiss to his shoulder. “Though if you’re looking for a little office action, I can dress up all professional, even add some glasses and then maybe you can interview me Mr. Queen.” She said in a low voice against his air.

Oliver groaned softly at the images that popped into his head. “That sounds like a really good plan,” he said. He glanced down at her hand on his thigh and met her eyes as he tried to keep himself from grinning. “What happened to no touching during dinner? I thought you were hungry,” he said. His eyes dropped to her lips as his tongue darted out to moisten his. Oliver’s throat was suddenly very dry and food was the last thing on his mind.

“And I’m not sappy,” Oliver added defensively when he forced himself to actually focus on her and not the ideas she’s put in his head. “You did say you loved me for me,” he reminded her. He reached out, brushing her hair back from her forehead and resting his palm against her cheek. “I pay attention to everything you say,” he pointed out.

Chloe’s face softened at his words. Oliver always had a way of making her feel like the most cherished woman in the world and she loved him more than anything for that. “You’re right…I did,” She said while shifting her hand a little further up his thigh and pressing a kiss to his ear. “You know the no touching rule never lasts for long…I can’t help it…You’re so pretty.” She told him with a small grin as she pressed another kiss near his ear while letting her hand slip to his inner thigh.

“You know if you think about it…our entire relationship is a little inappropriate,” She whispered, hot breath hitting his skin. “I am after all your employee…and it seems like I’ve been awfully bad with overstepping my bounds.” She said a spark of mischief in her eyes as she let her hand brush against the crotch of his pants.

Oliver sucked in a sharp breath as his hips automatically jerked at the brief contact, trying to get closer to her hand. “And you might have a point,” he agreed. Oliver swallowed hard as her hand brushed against him again and made him forget how to form sentences. “I am your boss in a way. But like you said, I’m pretty so I understand why you can’t keep your hands off of me.”

He gave her a smug smile before he moved his hand to her thigh once again, pushing her skirt up and out of his way as he traced patterns over her skin. “Do you know what’s better than Chinese food?” His lips trailed over her neck until he got to her pulse point and sucked the skin into his mouth.

Chloe moaned as she shifted attempting to get closer to him as his lips trailed across her skin, her body growing warm, dinner completely forgotten. “What’s better than Chinese?” She asked while lifting a hand to his shoulder and moving her foot to the bottom of his stool as she started to make her way over him. She paused, her breathing quicker than normal as she caught his eyes. “Will it hold both of us?” She asked not wanting the added weight on his stool to make it break leaving them on the floor.

He gripped her hips, stopping her movement before she climbed onto his lap. “It might but I’m not sure we should test it. Besides, I need more room for what I have in mind.” Oliver captured her mouth with his. He slid off the stool as he deepened the kiss and lifted Chloe into his arms, encouraging her to wrap her legs around his waist. When the kiss broke for air, he pressed light kisses to her face as he carried her down the hall. “Leftover Chinese food,” he whispered as he sucked her earlobe into his mouth. “It’s better after you work up an appetite,” he added as he squeezed her ass.

Chloe laughed lightly tightening her legs around his waist as she gripped his face keeping him still. “There’s nothing more in the world that I’d rather do than work up an appetite with you,” She whispered her tone breathy as she pressed herself against him and slid her hand down his chest and between them, rubbing him through his pants. She leaned towards him, her lips grazing his ear as she spoke, voice husky. “Now, about that interview Mr. Queen…”

Oliver groaned again as he felt himself getting harder each time she touched him. “If you keep that up, we’re not going to make it to the bedroom.” His lips traced a path from her ear down her neck to her collarbone before he pulled back and caught her gaze. “The interview process could take awhile, Ms. Sullivan.”

He carried her into their bedroom and set her down on the bed. His eyes skimmed over her as she tried to catch her breath. Her skin was flushed and the way she was looking up at him only made him want her more. “You might need to clear your schedule for the rest of the night,” he said as he lowered himself onto the bed beside her.

Chloe smirked as she kicked off her heels. She turned on her side so she was facing him and lifted one leg, trailing her foot up his calm until she could hook her leg over his hip, leaving her legs spread slightly. “Well Me. Queen you’re in luck, it looks like my schedule just cleared up and I’m more than ready to give you all the time you need,” She whispered while running a hand down his chest as she pressed a kiss to his jaw.

Oliver grinned, wrapping his arm around her waist and pulling her even closer so her body was pressed against his. “Seems like it’s my lucky night,” he said as he skimmed his hand over her hip. “In case I haven’t mentioned it lately, you’re the best girlfriend ever.” He kissed her softly before shifting onto his back and pulling Chloe with him so she was draped across his chest. “Now, the first thing we need to work on for this interview to be a success is for you to be wearing a lot less clothing,” he whispered as he pulled her close for another kiss.

Chloe smirked into the kiss as she let her legs straddle him. “Why Mr. Queen, do you ask all your employees to take off their clothes for interviews?” She asked a hint of mock surprise in her voice even as she sat up and started unbuttoning her shirt slowly, until it was fully open. She unclipped her hair and shook it out letting it fall to her shoulders before tossing the clip aside.

She paused; tilting her head and pushing her shirt wide open as she glanced down on him, palms resting flat against his chest. Chloe shifted rocking her hips against him lightly as she spoke. “And what’s the second thing Mr. Queen?” She asked breathily as her hands tightened against his chest.

His hips bucked against hers as his eyes darkened with lust. Oliver licked his lips as he watched her. “Not all my employees…just the one I’m in love with,” he said. His hands moved up her back, stroking her bare skin until he caught the clasp of her bra between his fingers and flipped it open. “I seem to have forgotten the second part of the interview,” Oliver admitted. His hands slipped down to her hips again as she rocked against him. “Why don’t you show me where you think this interview should go?” he suggested.

Chloe arched an eyebrow, a glint of mischief in her eyes. “I love you too,” She said softly before smiling. “Well, I should probably demonstrate my talents,” She said slowly as her hands started unbuttoning his shirt until she had it completely open. Her eyes locked with his as she raked her nails against his naked chest. “You know, show you what sets me apart from the other applicants.” The words slipped from her mouth silkily as she squirmed against him shifting her body lower and pressing several kisses to his chest.

Chloe nipped and kissed at his skin until her lips reached the waist up his pants. She sat up quickly before shrugging out of her shirt and bra tossing them aside as she unbuckled his pants, taking her time to unzip them before slipping her hand inside his boxer briefs. Her eyes widened slightly. “Why Mr. Queen, it seems someone is happy to see me.” She said amused bringing her lips back down to the waist of his boxers and running her tongue across the skin there.

Oliver laughed. “I like the initiative you’ve shown here, Ms. Sullivan. You’re very thorough and it seems like you know what you’re doing.” He rolled over quickly, causing Chloe to land flat on her back against the pillows. He smirked at the surprise on her face before he leaned down and kissed her until they were both gasping for air. “Before we go any further, I think I need to see just how ready you are for this job,” he said as he slipped his hand between her legs and rubbed her through her panties.

His smirk widened when her breath hitched and she bucked against his hand. “I think we’re off to a promising start.” Oliver leaned down and pressed another kiss to her lips as he continued to stroke her. “Now I think it’s time we got rid of all these clothes once and for all.”

Chloe nodded, her breathing ragged as moisture pooled in her panties. She was more than ready for him. She reached up and cupped his cheek her thumb brushing against his skin even as she attempted to bring her lower body closer to his hand. “Ollie...” She paused not sure what was causing the sudden rush of emotion to go through her, but needing him to know what was going on inside her head.

“I love you so much,” She whispered, her expression soft. “If I haven’t said it lately,” She moaned and sucked in a sharp breath, “I’m happier here with you than I’ve ever been.” She told him, voice breathy, eyes open and honest.

He was slightly taken aback by her sudden emotion, but Oliver nodded; his chest tightening as his own emotions overwhelmed him. “I love you too, Chloe. You’re the best part of my life and I would do anything for you.” Oliver leaned down and brushed his lips lightly against hers before pulling back and meeting her gaze.

“You make me happier than I ever thought was possible and it means everything to me that you love me.” He pressed a kiss to the tip of her nose and smiled at her. He knew how lucky he was that he’d found Chloe and Oliver planned to spend the rest of his life showing her just how much he cherished her.


End file.
